Drought in Lake County, IN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Lake County, IN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 20
2. 0
3. 9
4. 20
5. 0
6. 28
7. 10
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 12
14. 6
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 8
22. 6
23. 1
24. 9
25. 15
26. 14

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (20 wk), 2003 (20 wk), 2005 (28 wk), 2024 (15 wk) and 2025 (14 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

20th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: LaPorte County (1.9 in 10) and Boone County (1.9 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (19% of weeks), then Jan (18%) and Jul (16%). Least in Sep (6%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 18 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 9 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 16 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 6 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 19 Dec

The worst year: 2005

2005: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Sep 6, 2005 to Mar 7, 2006.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 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

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