Drought in Lincoln County, MN: 4.6 years in 10 since 2000

4.6 years in 10

Lincoln County, MN: 12 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2003 (13 wk), 2004 (19 wk), 2011 (16 wk), 2012 (42 wk), 2013 (42 wk), 2014 (21 wk), 2021 (15 wk), 2022 (22 wk), 2023 (29 wk), 2024 (14 wk) and 2025 (23 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Oct peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of MN

8th most drought-prone of 87 MN counties; the MN middle is 3.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Cook County (4.6 in 10) and Lyon County (4.6 in 10). Driest in MN: Wadena County (5 in 10). Least drought: Pennington County (1.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (32% of weeks), then Sep (31%) and Apr (30%). Least in Jun (10%). May to September averages 20%.

25 Jan
28 Feb
26 Mar
30 Apr
20 May
10 Jun
12 Jul
24 Aug
31 Sep
32 Oct
26 Nov
22 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 42 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 23.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 8.4% at D2, 2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 47 weeks, Jul 17, 2012 to Jun 4, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 23 weeks. 2016-2025: 5 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 37 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.