Drought in Moultrie County, IL: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Moultrie County, IL: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2005 (20 wk), 2012 (15 wk), 2013 (16 wk) and 2025 (23 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 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 IL

57th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Edgar County (1.9 in 10) and Randolph County (1.9 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (18% of weeks), then Sep (17%) and Nov (15%). Least in Apr (4%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 10 Mar
4. 4 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 11 Aug
9. 17 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 9 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 23 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.7% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Sep 2, 2025 to Mar 17, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 23 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Moultrie County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Moultrie County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.