Drought in Hamilton County, OH: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Hamilton County, OH: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (21 wk) and 2012 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

31st most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Clinton County (0.8 in 10) and Warren County (0.8 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 Oct (22% of weeks), then Sep (19%) and Jul (13%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 5 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 19 Sep
10. 22 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 2 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, 0.5% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Jun 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Hamilton County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Hamilton County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.