Drought in Sheboygan County, WI: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (24 wk), 2005 (25 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of WI

65th most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Waupaca County (1.2 in 10) and Shawano County (1.2 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 Oct (16% of weeks), then Nov (13%) and Aug (13%). Least in Jan (4%). May to September averages 10%.

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

The worst year: 2005

2005: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Jun 21, 2005 to Dec 6, 2005.

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: 8 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Sheboygan County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Sheboygan County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.