Drought in Winnebago County, WI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (13 wk), 2012 (13 wk), 2023 (26 wk) and 2024 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of WI

62nd most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Waushara County (1.5 in 10) and Menominee County (1.2 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (19% of weeks), then Sep (14%) and Mar (13%). Least in Jun (3%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 13 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 3 Jun
7. 10 Jul
8. 19 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 8 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2023

2023: 26 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 38 weeks, Jul 4, 2023 to Mar 19, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 5 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Winnebago 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 Winnebago County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.