Drought in Johnson County, IL: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Johnson County, IL: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 2
2. 12
3. 10
4. 0
5. 0
6. 2
7. 0
8. 12
9. 0
10. 0
11. 10
12. 0
13. 33
14. 2
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 3
21. 0
22. 0
23. 14
24. 5
25. 12
26. 3

20002025

Drought years: 2012 (33 wk) and 2022 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 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

92nd most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Gallatin County (1.2 in 10) and Franklin County (0.8 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 (19% of weeks), then Sep (17%) and May (13%). Least in Feb (1%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 4 Jan
2. 1 Feb
3. 2 Mar
4. 9 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 17 Sep
10. 19 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 33 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 8 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, May 15, 2012 to Jan 8, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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