Drought in Webster County, MO: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

1. 16
2. 0
3. 11
4. 6
5. 1
6. 7
7. 31
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 1
13. 28
14. 10
15. 10
16. 0
17. 3
18. 8
19. 19
20. 0
21. 7
22. 0
23. 12
24. 4
25. 10
26. 20

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (16 wk), 2006 (31 wk), 2012 (28 wk), 2018 (19 wk) and 2025 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of MO

95th most drought-prone of 115 MO counties; the MO middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Stoddard County (1.9 in 10) and Mississippi County (1.9 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 (30% of weeks), then Sep (22%) and Jan (22%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 15%.

1. 22 Jan
2. 16 Feb
3. 7 Mar
4. 8 Apr
5. 10 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 22 Sep
10. 30 Oct
11. 16 Nov
12. 18 Dec

The worst year: 2006

2006: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 15.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.8% at D2, 1.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 38 weeks, Jun 19, 2012 to Mar 5, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 18 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Webster County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2006, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Webster County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.