Drought in Washington County, MO: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Washington County, MO: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 13
2. 4
3. 0
4. 2
5. 0
6. 11
7. 12
8. 6
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 29
14. 7
15. 0
16. 4
17. 0
18. 30
19. 9
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 4
24. 12
25. 16
26. 10

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (13 wk), 2012 (29 wk), 2017 (30 wk) and 2024 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of MO

107th most drought-prone of 115 MO counties; the MO middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Cole County (1.5 in 10) and Jefferson County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MO: Jasper County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Perry County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (21% of weeks), then Aug (19%) and Nov (15%). Least in Apr (7%). May to September averages 13%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 14 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 11 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 19 Aug
9. 15 Sep
10. 21 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 14 Dec

The worst year: 2017

2017: 30 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.2% at D2, 0.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 36 weeks, Jun 12, 2012 to Feb 12, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 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, 2017, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Washington County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.