Drought in Darke County, OH: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Darke County, OH: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 16
2. 0
3. 4
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 11
9. 0
10. 0
11. 6
12. 0
13. 12
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 6
21. 0
22. 0
23. 11
24. 10
25. 10
26. 7

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

63rd most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Brown County (0.4 in 10) and Clermont County (0.4 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (14% of weeks), then Sep (14%) and Nov (11%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 6%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 5 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 6 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 11 Nov
12. 4 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 16 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 16 weeks, Jan 4, 2000 to Apr 18, 2000.

Lately

Last drought year: 2000, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Darke County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Darke County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.