Drought in Williamson County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000
1.2 years in 10
Williamson County, IL: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 2
- 8
- 10
- 1
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 0
- 30
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 6
- 13
- 7
20002025
Drought years: 2012 (30 wk), 2022 (14 wk) and 2024 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 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 IL
84th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Jackson County (1.2 in 10) and Perry 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 Oct (21% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Nov (13%). Least in Feb (4%). May to September averages 11%.
- 5 Jan
- 4 Feb
- 4 Mar
- 7 Apr
- 9 May
- 7 Jun
- 11 Jul
- 10 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 21 Oct
- 13 Nov
- 8 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 30 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 6 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, May 15, 2012 to Dec 4, 2012.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 18 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Williamson County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Williamson County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.