Drought in Vermilion County, IL: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Vermilion County, IL: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 22
- 1
- 0
- 6
- 0
- 8
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 14
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 6
- 8
- 9
- 13
- 11
- 22
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2012 (14 wk), 2023 (13 wk) and 2025 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
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 Feb turns dry.
Against the rest of IL
73rd most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Alexander County (1.5 in 10) and Douglas County (1.5 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Feb (15% of weeks), then Jul (14%) and Mar (13%). Least in May (6%). May to September averages 10%.
- 9 Jan
- 15 Feb
- 13 Mar
- 6 Apr
- 6 May
- 10 Jun
- 14 Jul
- 10 Aug
- 12 Sep
- 9 Oct
- 12 Nov
- 9 Dec
The worst year: 2025
2025: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, 0.5% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Vermilion County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Vermilion County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.