Drought in Marion County, OH: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (13 wk) and 2024 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

50th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Noble County (0.8 in 10) and Fairfield County (0.8 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 (10% of weeks), then Sep (9%) and Jul (8%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 5%.

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

The worst year: 2024

2024: 14 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 4.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 14 weeks, Sep 10, 2024 to Dec 10, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

Marion County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2024, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Marion County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.