Drought in Portage County, WI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (18 wk), 2008 (15 wk), 2009 (26 wk), 2012 (15 wk) and 2023 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2025.

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 WI

58th most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Green Lake County (1.9 in 10) and Dodge County (1.9 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (18% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Jul (14%). Least in Jun (1%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 6 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 13 Mar
4. 9 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 1 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 7 Nov
12. 9 Dec

The worst year: 2009

2009: 26 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Sep 23, 2008 to May 5, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 4 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Portage County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2009, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Portage County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.