Drought in Van Buren County, MI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 15
2. 0
3. 12
4. 18
5. 1
6. 31
7. 7
8. 6
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 7
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 14
23. 0
24. 5
25. 10
26. 18

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (15 wk), 2003 (18 wk), 2005 (31 wk), 2021 (14 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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 Jan turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

20th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Lenawee County (1.9 in 10) and Eaton County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jan (13% of weeks), then Jul (13%) and Mar (12%). Least in Sep (7%). May to September averages 9%.

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

The worst year: 2005

2005: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 34 weeks, Jun 28, 2005 to Feb 14, 2006.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Van Buren 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 Van Buren County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.