Drought in Perry County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2012 (17 wk), 2023 (13 wk) and 2024 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 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 IL

85th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Williamson County (1.2 in 10) and Effingham County (1.2 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (16% of weeks), then Oct (13%) and Jul (13%). Least in Apr (4%). May to September averages 11%.

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

The worst year: 2012

2012: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 17 weeks, Jun 12, 2012 to Oct 2, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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