Drought in Oakland County, MI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Oakland County, MI: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 3
- 2
- 16
- 18
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 13
- 11
- 0
- 15
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (16 wk), 2003 (18 wk), 2021 (14 wk), 2022 (13 wk) and 2025 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024.
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 Dec turns dry.
Against the rest of MI
30th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Wayne County (1.9 in 10) and Baraga County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Dec (17% of weeks), then Nov (15%) and Oct (13%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 4%.
- 9 Jan
- 7 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 10 Apr
- 3 May
- 4 Jun
- 5 Jul
- 3 Aug
- 4 Sep
- 13 Oct
- 15 Nov
- 17 Dec
The worst year: 2003
2003: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Sep 17, 2002 to Apr 29, 2003.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 2 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Oakland County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2003, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Oakland County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.