Drought in Van Wert County, OH: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (20 wk), 2002 (15 wk), 2012 (14 wk), 2024 (19 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

10th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Hancock County (1.9 in 10) and Ottawa County (1.5 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (17% of weeks), then Sep (14%) and Nov (13%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 12 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.4% at D2, 1.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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