Drought in Mississippi County, MO: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Mississippi County, MO: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 6
- 17
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 4
- 0
- 13
- 0
- 0
- 23
- 8
- 34
- 2
- 0
- 11
- 8
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 22
- 7
- 12
- 10
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (17 wk), 2007 (13 wk), 2010 (23 wk), 2012 (34 wk) and 2022 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 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 Oct turns dry.
Against the rest of MO
96th most drought-prone of 115 MO counties; the MO middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Webster County (1.9 in 10) and Osage County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MO: Jasper County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Perry County (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (23% of weeks), then Sep (20%) and Nov (19%). Least in Mar (4%). May to September averages 17%.
- 10 Jan
- 7 Feb
- 4 Mar
- 9 Apr
- 14 May
- 17 Jun
- 18 Jul
- 16 Aug
- 20 Sep
- 23 Oct
- 19 Nov
- 13 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 34 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.3% at D2, 1.9% at D3, 8 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 36 weeks, May 8, 2012 to Jan 8, 2013.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 18 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Mississippi 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 Mississippi County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.