Drought in Dakota County, NE: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Dakota County, NE: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (52 wk), 2012 (40 wk), 2013 (41 wk), 2020 (26 wk), 2021 (31 wk), 2022 (51 wk), 2023 (51 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Aug peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 31% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (6 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (1.9 in 10).

Against the rest of NE

86th most drought-prone of 93 NE counties; the NE middle is 5 in 10. Closest on the list: Knox County (3.5 in 10) and Dodge County (3.5 in 10). Driest in NE: Banner County (6.5 in 10). Least drought: Cuming County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (40% of weeks), then Jul (35%) and Sep (33%). Least in Apr (20%). May to September averages 31%.

31 Jan
29 Feb
27 Mar
20 Apr
24 May
22 Jun
35 Jul
40 Aug
33 Sep
28 Oct
27 Nov
25 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 28.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 14.4% at D2, 7.4% at D3, 75 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 102 weeks, Jan 11, 2022 to Dec 19, 2023.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 6 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 25 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.