TOLEDO, Ohio — September has been a very dry month for Ohio. So dry, in fact, that it's the worst drought the state has seen since US Drought Monitor records began in 2000.
The drought monitor is updated and released every Thursday. Since the beginning of its records in 2000, September 2024 has proven to be the driest the state has been. Below is a map of current drought conditions in Ohio. It shows nearly the entire state under some level of drought, with a substantial amount measuring severe or worse.
Droughts of Ohio's past
For parts of the state, this is the worst drought since 1949.
As for Toledo, there was a very small uptick in dry conditions in summer 2012. However, the last bad drought Ohio has seen was in late summer/early fall in 2007. It was still not as bad as what Ohio is seeing right now. Those who lived in Ohio in 1988 may remember a drought from May to June. Between May 20 and July 10, hardly an inch of rain fell.
The last time Ohio was technically in a drought was the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024. This was during the winter, so conditions were much different compared to summer and fall weather.
As of September 19th, northwest Ohio has only seen two days of rain in the month of September, meaning the area has gone nearly two weeks without rain. The last time northwest Ohio went that long without rain was January 31st to February 14th.
Depending on how the rest of the month goes, this could be the driest September ever recorded.
Fire risk
To mitigate the risk of fires in the excessively dry conditions, authorities have issued burn bans for the following counties, as of Sept. 13: Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Licking, Madison, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Tuscarawas, Vinton and Washington counties, as of September 13th.
About a third of the state are under no burning restrictions.
On a national level, the last time a drought was close to being this bad was August 2021.
Agricultural impacts
This warm and dry weather has impacted the crops. Corn and soybeans have matured, causing some farmers to harvest early.
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