Drought in Gallatin County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000
1.2 years in 10
Gallatin County, IL: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 10
- 10
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- 0
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 26
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
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- 13
- 10
- 5
- 3
20002025
Drought years: 2007 (14 wk), 2012 (26 wk) and 2022 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 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
91st most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Marion County (1.2 in 10) and Johnson County (0.8 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 (17% of weeks), then Oct (17%) and Jul (12%). Least in Mar (1%). May to September averages 11%.
- 2 Jan
- 1 Feb
- 1 Mar
- 3 Apr
- 7 May
- 10 Jun
- 12 Jul
- 11 Aug
- 17 Sep
- 17 Oct
- 9 Nov
- 5 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 26 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 8 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 26 weeks, May 15, 2012 to Nov 6, 2012.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Gallatin County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Gallatin County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.