Drought in Madison County, IL: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (19 wk), 2007 (20 wk), 2012 (15 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

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 IL

75th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Douglas County (1.5 in 10) and Coles County (1.5 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (19% of weeks), then Aug (14%) and Oct (13%). Least in Apr (3%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 10 Feb
3. 7 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 14 Aug
9. 19 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 11 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.4% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 23 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Feb 10, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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