Drought in Hardin County, OH: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Hardin County, OH: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (16 wk), 2002 (13 wk) and 2024 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 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

27th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Madison County (1.2 in 10) and Athens County (1.2 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 (14% of weeks), then Jul (10%) and Nov (10%). Least in Jun (0%). May to September averages 5%.

1. 7 Jan
2. 5 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 0 Jun
7. 10 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 10 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 5 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 16 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 16 weeks, Jan 4, 2000 to Apr 18, 2000.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

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