Two of Michigan’s Worst Droughts in History Happened in The Last 100 Years

It has been unusually hot and dry this spring in Michigan with many lawns already brown and crunchy but when was it the hottest and driest in the state's history?

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Drought and Heat

Unusually, warm temperatures mixed with no rain can be a nightmare for farmers and homeowners. Unless you have deep pockets, irrigation systems, or underground sprinkling systems, all of your hard work can go to waste.

Warmer temperatures enhance evaporation, which reduces surface water and that leads to dryer soil and vegetation. This also makes periods with low precipitation drier than they would be in cooler conditions. Throw in unusually hot temperatures then you will exacerbate dry conditions and this can turn into wildfires like we have already seen in northern Michigan recently. If think it's been dry here lately, this is nothing compared to two events that happened in the past 100 years.

Michigan's Last Serious Drought Was in 1988

The summer of 1988 was one of Michigan's hottest on record since weather records have been kept. That year the drought was early similar to what we have been seeing this past month.

If it wasn't for two days of decent rain from June 3 to July 15 there would have been 37 days in a row with zero rain. There were 18 days during that period that were 95 degrees or higher with some of those days being over 100 degrees.

Michigan farmers lost millions of dollars that year plus this hurt the nation's food supply and affected other countries who depend on our agricultural exports. It wasn't just Michigan that was dry that year but nearly 40% of the entire country suffered extreme drought.

Michigan's Worst Drought on Record Occurred in The 1930s

From 1930 to 1937 was the biggest drought Michigan has ever suffered on record. In 1934 the Great Pains were going through the historical Dust Bowl with one of those devastating storms putting clouds of dust across most of the Lower Peninsula.

Although Michigan was suffering from drought and high temperatures from 1930 to 1937, the worst of it was in 1936 when an incredible heat wave hit the Great Lakes State.

There was a seven-day stretch from July 7th through the 14th that had temperatures of 100 or higher every day. Saginaw actually hit 111. Over 500 people lost their lives from heat-related illnesses because most homes and businesses didn't have air conditioning back then. The auto factories had to shut down as well as many other manufacturing companies and businesses. Many of the streams dried up causing major river systems problems which lead to water shortages all across the state. Many farmers lost their entire crops that year.