Drought in Lawrence County, OH: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2005 (18 wk), 2007 (28 wk) and 2023 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

19th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Auglaize County (1.2 in 10) and Greene County (1.2 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (16% of weeks), then Nov (14%) and Oct (13%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 7 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 6 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 12 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.1% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 28 weeks, May 29, 2007 to Dec 4, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 5 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Lawrence County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Lawrence County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.