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

1.9 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (14 wk), 2007 (13 wk), 2010 (15 wk), 2012 (33 wk) and 2022 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 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 IL

66th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Fayette County (1.9 in 10) and Montgomery 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 Sep (22% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (13%). Least in Mar (1%). May to September averages 13%.

3 Jan
1 Feb
1 Mar
5 Apr
10 May
10 Jun
10 Jul
13 Aug
22 Sep
18 Oct
13 Nov
7 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 33 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.3% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 7 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, May 15, 2012 to Jan 8, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 8 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.