Drought in Piatt County, IL: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Piatt County, IL: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2005 (24 wk), 2012 (20 wk), 2013 (18 wk) and 2025 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

55th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Shelby County (2.3 in 10) and Edgar County (1.9 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 Oct (23% of weeks), then Sep (20%) and Jan (16%). Least in Apr (5%). May to September averages 13%.

1. 16 Jan
2. 14 Feb
3. 12 Mar
4. 5 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 13 Aug
9. 20 Sep
10. 23 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2005

2005: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.6% at D2, 1.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Aug 19, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Piatt County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Piatt County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.