Drought in Slope County, ND: 6.2 years in 10 since 2000

6.2 years in 10

Slope County, ND: 16 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 2
2. 4
3. 45
4. 48
5. 52
6. 23
7. 24
8. 28
9. 53
10. 5
11. 0
12. 0
13. 29
14. 15
15. 0
16. 0
17. 3
18. 30
19. 21
20. 0
21. 7
22. 52
23. 34
24. 21
25. 18
26. 23

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (45 wk), 2003 (48 wk), 2004 (52 wk), 2005 (23 wk), 2006 (24 wk), 2007 (28 wk), 2008 (53 wk), 2012 (29 wk), 2013 (15 wk), 2017 (30 wk), 2018 (21 wk), 2021 (52 wk), 2022 (34 wk), 2023 (21 wk), 2024 (18 wk) and 2025 (23 wk). Not a single drought week in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 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 Dec peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of ND

2nd most drought-prone of 53 ND counties; the ND middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Bowman County (6.5 in 10) and Hettinger County (6.2 in 10). Driest in ND: Bowman County (6.5 in 10). Least drought: Barnes County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (49% of weeks), then Jan (48%) and Apr (47%). Least in Jul (28%). May to September averages 32%.

1. 48 Jan
2. 45 Feb
3. 43 Mar
4. 47 Apr
5. 33 May
6. 28 Jun
7. 28 Jul
8. 34 Aug
9. 39 Sep
10. 43 Oct
11. 43 Nov
12. 49 Dec

The worst year: 2004

2004: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 39.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 21.7% at D2, 3.4% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 98 weeks, Jul 29, 2003 to Jun 7, 2005.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 23 weeks. 2016-2025: 7 in 10, against 5.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 20 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Slope County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2004, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Slope County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.