Drought in Manitowoc County, WI: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Manitowoc County, WI: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2005 (24 wk) and 2023 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 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 WI

68th most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Outagamie County (1.2 in 10) and Calumet County (0.8 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (16% of weeks), then Aug (15%) and Jul (12%). Least in Jan (3%). May to September averages 11%.

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

The worst year: 2005

2005: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.6% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Jun 28, 2005 to Dec 6, 2005.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Manitowoc County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Manitowoc County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.