Drought in Leelanau County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Leelanau County, MI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (16 wk), 2005 (14 wk), 2007 (25 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023.

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 Feb turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

54th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Alcona County (1.5 in 10) and Schoolcraft County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Feb (9% of weeks), then Mar (9%) and Sep (9%). Least in Apr (7%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2007

2007: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.8% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Jul 10, 2007 to Jan 8, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

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