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

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (18 wk), 2007 (18 wk) and 2010 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

62nd most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Crawford County (1.2 in 10) and Benzie 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 Aug (15% of weeks), then Dec (12%) and Apr (11%). Least in Mar (4%). May to September averages 9%.

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

The worst year: 2010

2010: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.6% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Nov 5, 2002 to Apr 15, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2010, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Otsego County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2010, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Otsego County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.