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

0.4 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

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 OH

65th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Clermont County (0.4 in 10) and Champaign 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 Sep (13% of weeks), then Jul (12%) and Nov (12%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 1 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 4 Apr
5. 1 May
6. 2 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 13 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.5% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 12 weeks, Sep 3, 2002 to Nov 19, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 20 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

Erie County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Erie County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.