Drought in Saunders County, NE: 4.2 years in 10 since 2000

4.2 years in 10

Saunders County, NE: 11 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (49 wk), 2002 (14 wk), 2003 (41 wk), 2006 (16 wk), 2012 (30 wk), 2013 (31 wk), 2020 (25 wk), 2022 (37 wk), 2023 (52 wk), 2024 (32 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Jan peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of NE

75th most drought-prone of 93 NE counties; the NE middle is 5 in 10. Closest on the list: Lancaster County (4.2 in 10) and Pierce County (4.2 in 10). Driest in NE: Banner County (6.5 in 10). Least drought: Cuming County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jan (38% of weeks), then Aug (37%) and Apr (33%). Least in Jun (8%). May to September averages 24%.

38 Jan
27 Feb
31 Mar
33 Apr
22 May
8 Jun
22 Jul
37 Aug
29 Sep
30 Oct
30 Nov
31 Dec

The worst year: 2023

2023: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 28.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.8% at D2, 5.4% at D3, 35 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 92 weeks, Aug 2, 2022 to Apr 30, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 5 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.