Drought in Oconto County, WI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Oconto County, WI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 2
2. 0
3. 0
4. 2
5. 5
6. 13
7. 0
8. 25
9. 22
10. 32
11. 3
12. 0
13. 4
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 9
23. 10
24. 3
25. 10
26. 9

20002025

Drought years: 2005 (13 wk), 2007 (25 wk), 2008 (22 wk) and 2009 (32 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

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 WI

60th most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Dodge County (1.9 in 10) and Waushara County (1.5 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (26% of weeks), then Sep (21%) and Nov (19%). Least in May (2%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 4 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 3 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 14 Aug
9. 21 Sep
10. 26 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2009

2009: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 37 weeks, Aug 26, 2008 to May 5, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2009, 32 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 23 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Oconto County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran wetter than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Oconto County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.