Drought in Oceana County, MI: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (26 wk), 2005 (16 wk) and 2025 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

76th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Ingham County (1.2 in 10) and Muskegon County (1.2 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 Oct (14% of weeks), then Sep (9%) and Jul (8%). Least in Jan (4%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2003

2003: 26 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 18 weeks, Jan 7, 2003 to May 6, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 1 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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