Drought in Lyon County, KY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 2
2. 14
3. 6
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 17
9. 5
10. 0
11. 22
12. 8
13. 34
14. 0
15. 1
16. 6
17. 7
18. 0
19. 0
20. 1
21. 0
22. 0
23. 16
24. 2
25. 6
26. 5

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (14 wk), 2007 (17 wk), 2010 (22 wk), 2012 (34 wk) and 2022 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020 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 KY

14th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Christian County (1.9 in 10) and Crittenden County (1.9 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (22% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (17%). Least in Mar (2%). May to September averages 15%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 2 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 12 May
6. 11 Jun
7. 15 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 22 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 17 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 34 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.4% at D2, 1.7% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 34 weeks, Apr 17, 2012 to Dec 4, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Lyon County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Lyon County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.