Drought in Effingham County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Effingham County, IL: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (21 wk), 2012 (14 wk) and 2025 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

86th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Perry County (1.2 in 10) and Clay County (1.2 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (12% of weeks), then Dec (11%) and Aug (11%). Least in Apr (4%). May to September averages 9%.

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

The worst year: 2025

2025: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.4% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Mar 3, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Effingham County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Effingham County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.