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

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2012 (20 wk), 2022 (13 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

83rd most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Kankakee County (1.2 in 10) and Williamson 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 Oct (18% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Jul (12%). Least in Feb (4%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 11 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 9 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 6 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 20 weeks, Jun 5, 2012 to Oct 16, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 15 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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