Drought in Marathon County, WI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 0
3. 0
4. 20
5. 11
6. 6
7. 3
8. 17
9. 16
10. 42
11. 5
12. 0
13. 7
14. 0
15. 0
16. 9
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 13
25. 6
26. 7

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (20 wk), 2007 (17 wk), 2008 (16 wk), 2009 (42 wk) and 2023 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 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 WI

53rd most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Clark County (1.9 in 10) and Grant County (1.9 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 Sep (25% of weeks), then Oct (22%) and Aug (15%). Least in Apr (7%). May to September averages 14%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 9 Feb
3. 10 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 10 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 25 Sep
10. 22 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2009

2009: 42 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 58 weeks, Sep 16, 2008 to Oct 20, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Marathon County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2009, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Marathon County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.