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

1.2 years in 10

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

1. 20
2. 0
3. 6
4. 17
5. 0
6. 29
7. 11
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 8
14. 5
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 4
22. 6
23. 6
24. 9
25. 12
26. 5

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (20 wk), 2003 (17 wk) and 2005 (29 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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 Jan turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

82nd most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Iroquois County (1.2 in 10) and Jackson 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 Jan (14% of weeks), then Dec (14%) and Jul (13%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 9%.

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

The worst year: 2005

2005: 29 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 28 weeks, Sep 6, 2005 to Mar 14, 2006.

Lately

Last drought year: 2005, 29 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Kankakee County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Kankakee County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.