Drought in Lorain County, OH: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Lorain County, OH: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2020.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

72nd most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Wayne County (0.4 in 10) and Stark County (0.4 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 Oct (14% of weeks), then Sep (13%) and Aug (13%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2002

2002: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 12 weeks, Sep 3, 2002 to Nov 19, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Lorain County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Lorain County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.