Drought in McLean County, KY: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

McLean County, KY: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (17 wk), 2010 (20 wk) and 2012 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of KY

70th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Floyd County (1.2 in 10) and Estill County (1.2 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (24% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (14%). Least in Mar (1%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 6 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 1 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 11 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 24 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 9 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.6% at D2, 1.2% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Aug 17, 2010 to Mar 1, 2011.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 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

McLean County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of McLean County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.