Drought in Fond du Lac County, WI: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Fond du Lac County, WI: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (17 wk) and 2012 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 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 WI

72nd most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Brown County (0.8 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (15% of weeks), then Mar (11%) and Sep (10%). Least in Dec (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 1 Jan
2. 5 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 5 Apr
5. 1 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 10 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 10 Sep
10. 10 Oct
11. 4 Nov
12. 0 Dec

The worst year: 2003

2003: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 14 weeks, Jul 10, 2012 to Oct 9, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 4 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Fond du Lac County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2003, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Fond du Lac County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.