Drought in Seneca County, OH: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Seneca County, OH: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (14 wk), 2002 (20 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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 OH

16th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Mercer County (1.2 in 10) and Fayette County (1.2 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 Nov (14% of weeks), then Dec (14%) and Sep (13%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 2 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 13 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 14 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, 0.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Seneca County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Seneca County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.