Drought in Iroquois County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Iroquois County, IL: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (21 wk), 2003 (14 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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 Feb turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

81st most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Union County (1.2 in 10) and Kankakee County (1.2 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Feb (17% of weeks), then Mar (15%) and Dec (15%). Least in Aug (4%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 17 Feb
3. 15 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 4 Aug
9. 8 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 15 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Oct 21, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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