Drought in Lenawee County, MI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (15 wk), 2002 (17 wk), 2003 (17 wk), 2021 (17 wk) and 2023 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 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 MI

19th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Berrien County (1.9 in 10) and Van Buren County (1.9 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 Jan (16% of weeks), then Jul (15%) and Feb (15%). Least in Sep (2%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 16 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 12 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 13 Jun
7. 15 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 2 Sep
10. 4 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2003

2003: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 28 weeks, Oct 22, 2002 to Apr 29, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Lenawee County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2003, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Lenawee County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.