Drought in Ottawa County, OH: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (22 wk), 2003 (14 wk), 2024 (19 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

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 OH

11th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Van Wert County (1.9 in 10) and Sandusky County (1.5 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (16% of weeks), then Nov (15%) and Oct (15%). Least in May (2%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 13 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 15 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 31 weeks, Sep 3, 2002 to Apr 1, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Ottawa County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Ottawa County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.