Drought in Pulaski County, IN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (21 wk), 2003 (18 wk), 2020 (18 wk), 2021 (18 wk) and 2025 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

17th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Marion County (2.3 in 10) and Saint Joseph County (1.9 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (20% of weeks), then Dec (17%) and Mar (16%). Least in Aug (5%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 14 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 16 Mar
4. 12 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 5 Aug
9. 10 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 20 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 36 weeks, Sep 1, 2020 to May 4, 2021.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 2 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Pulaski County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Pulaski County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.