Drought in Emmet County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Emmet County, MI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (15 wk), 2005 (14 wk), 2007 (17 wk) and 2010 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

47th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Gladwin County (1.5 in 10) and Missaukee County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (18% of weeks), then Sep (17%) and Apr (13%). Least in Dec (1%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 3 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 4 Mar
4. 13 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 17 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 4 Nov
12. 1 Dec

The worst year: 2010

2010: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 20 weeks, Apr 6, 2010 to Aug 17, 2010.

Lately

Last drought year: 2010, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Emmet County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran wetter than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Emmet County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.