Drought in Ionia County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Ionia County, MI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (14 wk), 2003 (18 wk), 2023 (18 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

50th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Clinton County (1.5 in 10) and Osceola County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (14% of weeks), then Jan (11%) and Feb (10%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 6%.

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

The worst year: 2025

2025: 19 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.3% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Oct 1, 2002 to Apr 1, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 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

Ionia County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Ionia County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.