Drought in Switzerland County, IN: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Switzerland County, IN: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (21 wk) and 2012 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

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 IN

73rd most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Orange County (0.8 in 10) and Greene County (0.8 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (22% of weeks), then Aug (15%) and Nov (14%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 3 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 22 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 4 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.4% at D2, 0.8% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Jun 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 1 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Switzerland County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Switzerland County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.