Drought in Hancock County, OH: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (16 wk), 2002 (21 wk), 2023 (13 wk), 2024 (18 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

9th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Lucas County (1.9 in 10) and Van Wert County (1.9 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 Dec (17% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Nov (15%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 10 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, 0.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 31 weeks, Sep 2, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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