Drought in Newton County, IN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (21 wk), 2003 (14 wk), 2005 (13 wk), 2021 (13 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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 Mar turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

22nd most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Boone County (1.9 in 10) and Carroll County (1.9 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Mar (18% of weeks), then Feb (17%) and Jan (16%). Least in Sep (6%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 16 Jan
2. 17 Feb
3. 18 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 7 Aug
9. 6 Sep
10. 11 Oct
11. 11 Nov
12. 15 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 22 weeks, Oct 20, 2020 to Mar 16, 2021.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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