Drought in Washtenaw County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (16 wk), 2003 (18 wk), 2021 (14 wk) and 2023 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2024.

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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

44th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Allegan County (1.5 in 10) and Wexford County (1.5 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 Nov (19% of weeks), then Dec (17%) and Apr (11%). Least in Sep (3%). May to September averages 6%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 6 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 3 Sep
10. 6 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2003

2003: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 28 weeks, Oct 22, 2002 to Apr 29, 2003.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Washtenaw County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2003, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Washtenaw County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.