Drought in Orange County, IN: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Orange County, IN: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (13 wk) and 2012 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

72nd most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Jefferson County (0.8 in 10) and Switzerland County (0.8 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 Sep (21% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (16%). Least in Apr (0%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 4 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 1 Mar
4. 0 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 21 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 16 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 15 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 0.7% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 15 weeks, Jun 19, 2012 to Sep 25, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 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

Orange County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Orange County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.