Drought in Steele County, ND: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 4
2. 0
3. 1
4. 12
5. 0
6. 0
7. 10
8. 0
9. 0
10. 7
11. 0
12. 2
13. 40
14. 26
15. 0
16. 15
17. 0
18. 1
19. 0
20. 0
21. 5
22. 41
23. 15
24. 10
25. 0
26. 0

20002025

Drought years: 2012 (40 wk), 2013 (26 wk), 2015 (15 wk), 2021 (41 wk) and 2022 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025.

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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of ND

52nd most drought-prone of 53 ND counties; the ND middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Grand Forks County (1.9 in 10) and Barnes County (1.2 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 Sep (24% of weeks), then Feb (21%) and Aug (19%). Least in Jun (8%). May to September averages 14%.

1. 17 Jan
2. 21 Feb
3. 16 Mar
4. 16 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 19 Aug
9. 24 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 9 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2021

2021: 41 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.9% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 52 weeks, May 22, 2012 to May 14, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 15 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Steele County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2021, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Steele County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.