Drought in Isabella County, MI: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (14 wk), 2003 (22 wk) and 2025 (52 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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

59th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Montmorency County (1.2 in 10) and Cheboygan County (1.2 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 Dec (13%) and Nov (12%). Least in Aug (5%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2025

2025: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 65 weeks, Oct 15, 2024 to Jan 6, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 52 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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