DroughtOdds

Drought in Iron County, WI: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Iron County, WI: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

  1. 0
  2. 0
  3. 0
  4. 15
  5. 3
  6. 10
  7. 27
  8. 37
  9. 19
  10. 52
  11. 30
  12. 0
  13. 0
  14. 0
  15. 0
  16. 8
  17. 0
  18. 0
  19. 0
  20. 0
  21. 0
  22. 10
  23. 10
  24. 25
  25. 32
  26. 14

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (15 wk), 2006 (27 wk), 2007 (37 wk), 2008 (19 wk), 2009 (52 wk), 2010 (30 wk), 2023 (25 wk), 2024 (32 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Keep a lawn, but switch to drought-tolerant grass

Dry years come often enough to kill a thirsty lawn every few summers. Keep the lawn, reseed with a drought-tolerant mix, and put the beds on drip.

If you reseed, use a drought-tolerant mix and do it well clear of Sep, the month drought is most common here. Put beds on drip before the next dry year.

Against the rest of WI

17th most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Buffalo County (3.8 in 10) and Lincoln County (3.5 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (30% of weeks), then Oct (28%) and Dec (27%). Least in Jun (12%). May to September averages 20%.

  1. 23 Jan
  2. 23 Feb
  3. 23 Mar
  4. 17 Apr
  5. 13 May
  6. 12 Jun
  7. 21 Jul
  8. 22 Aug
  9. 30 Sep
  10. 28 Oct
  11. 26 Nov
  12. 27 Dec

The worst year: 2009

2009: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 22.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 8.2% at D2, 0.9% at D3, 7 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 101 weeks, Aug 26, 2008 to Jul 27, 2010.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 17 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Iron County lands on the plan covered in changing to a drought-tolerant grass. Its worst year, 2009, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Iron County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.