Drought in Washington County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Washington County, IL: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (15 wk), 2012 (15 wk) and 2023 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 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 IL

89th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Crawford County (1.2 in 10) and Marion County (1.2 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 Sep (15% of weeks), then Jul (12%) and Feb (10%). Least in Apr (3%). May to September averages 10%.

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

The worst year: 2023

2023: 16 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 15 weeks, Jun 19, 2012 to Sep 25, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 11 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Washington County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2023, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Washington County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.