If you haven’t mowed your lawn in four weeks and you’re thinking it’s been a really dry July, you aren’t wrong.
July 2026 was among the driest in much of Michigan in several years with some areas approaching record low totals, according to National Weather Service data.
The lack of rainfall across the state has left much of mid-Michigan and the Saginaw Bay area “abnormally dry,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. A portion of the far western Upper Peninsula is even considered to be in severe drought.
Just three months ago, none of Michigan was considered abnormally dry or in drought.
Despite severe thunderstorms that moved through the state an left locally heavy rainfall totals in there wake, several cities across Michigan have reported far below their normal monthly rain totals for July, according to the NWS weather data.
Ironwood, on the Wisconsin border, recorded its second-lowest July rainfall total ever — just 0.93 of an inch. The record was a tenth of an inch in 1907. The area received 4.4 inches in 2025.
Elsewhere, Flint recorded 1.11 inches of rain, down from 2.38 inches a year ago and the lowest total since receiving 0.73 of an inch in 1978. Lansing’s 1.33-inch total was the lowest since the area got 1.03 inches in 2018. Muskegon got just 0.69 of an inch in July — down from 1.9 inches in 2025 and the lowest since receiving 0.47 of an inch in 1951.
The only area of the state to see mostly normal rainfall totals in July was northern Michigan, where Alpena got more than 5 inches and several cities recorded more than 4 inches of rain.
It’s unlikely rain showers that moved across the state Friday, July 31, and into Saturday, Aug. 1, will do much to alleviate the brown, burned-out look of many lawns in areas that are seeing lower-than-normal rainfall.
Here’s a closer look at July rainfall totals in Michigan.
How much rain fell in the Upper Peninsula
How much rain fell in the northern Michigan
How much rain fell in West Michigan?
How much rain fell in Southeast Michigan?
How much rain fell in mid-Michigan?
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Much of Michigan was drier than normal in July. How much rain fell
Reporting by Dan Basso, USA TODAY NETWORK / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dan Basso, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
