Drought in Hendricks County, IN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Hendricks County, IN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 20
- 4
- 0
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 9
- 0
- 0
- 12
- 14
- 16
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 0
- 9
- 20
- 4
- 18
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (20 wk), 2011 (14 wk), 2012 (16 wk), 2023 (20 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 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 IN
25th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Putnam County (1.9 in 10) and Miami County (1.9 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (20% of weeks), then Nov (17%) and Dec (16%). Least in Apr (4%). May to September averages 10%.
- 9 Jan
- 7 Feb
- 6 Mar
- 4 Apr
- 6 May
- 6 Jun
- 11 Jul
- 11 Aug
- 14 Sep
- 20 Oct
- 17 Nov
- 16 Dec
The worst year: 2000
2000: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.7% at D2, 0.6% at D3, 3 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 20 weeks, Jan 4, 2000 to May 16, 2000.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 2 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Hendricks 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 Hendricks County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.