Drought in Mercer County, OH: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (19 wk), 2024 (20 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 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

15th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Jackson County (1.5 in 10) and Seneca County (1.2 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 (14% of weeks), then Dec (13%) and Nov (13%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 7%.

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

The worst year: 2024

2024: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.4% at D2, 1.5% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Mercer 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 Mercer County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.