Drought in Mason County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (23 wk), 2023 (24 wk), 2024 (20 wk) and 2025 (23 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 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.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of MI

35th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Marquette County (1.5 in 10) and Arenac County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (18% of weeks), then Nov (15%) and Dec (12%). Least in Apr (4%). May to September averages 8%.

11 Jan
10 Feb
11 Mar
4 Apr
6 May
8 Jun
9 Jul
9 Aug
9 Sep
18 Oct
15 Nov
12 Dec

The worst year: 2023

2023: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 22 weeks, Oct 10, 2023 to Mar 5, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 23 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.