Drought in Preble County, OH: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Preble County, OH: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (15 wk) and 2012 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 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 OH

36th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Clark County (0.8 in 10) and Butler County (0.8 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 Sep (17% of weeks), then Oct (15%) and Aug (8%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 17 Sep
10. 15 Oct
11. 8 Nov
12. 4 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 16 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 16 weeks, Jun 19, 2012 to Oct 2, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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