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

0.8 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (21 wk) and 2012 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

33rd most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Warren County (0.8 in 10) and Scioto 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 Sep (17% of weeks), then Oct (17%) and Aug (13%). Least in Apr (0%). May to September averages 10%.

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

The worst year: 2007

2007: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2% at D2, 0.6% at D3, 3 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Jun 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 13 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

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