Drought in Iron County, MO: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 13
2. 7
3. 0
4. 2
5. 0
6. 12
7. 4
8. 5
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 30
14. 2
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 16
19. 9
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 7
24. 12
25. 15
26. 16

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (13 wk), 2012 (30 wk), 2017 (16 wk), 2024 (15 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of MO

103rd most drought-prone of 115 MO counties; the MO middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Saint Francois County (1.9 in 10) and Scott County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MO: Jasper County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Perry County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (16% of weeks), then Jun (16%) and Dec (16%). Least in Apr (6%). May to September averages 13%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 10 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 16 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 16 Aug
9. 11 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 30 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.1% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 32 weeks, Jun 5, 2012 to Jan 8, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Iron County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Iron County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.