Drought in Ford County, IL: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Ford County, IL: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (21 wk), 2003 (13 wk), 2005 (15 wk), 2012 (14 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.

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 Feb turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

60th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Massac County (1.9 in 10) and Cumberland County (1.9 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 Feb (17% of weeks), then Sep (14%) and Mar (13%). Least in May (6%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 17 Feb
3. 13 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 6 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 6 Nov
12. 12 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.9% at D2, 0.7% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Ford 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 Ford County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.