Cass County, Illinois · Virginia
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With 42% of homes built before 1960 and about 38 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7.4 times a year here, most often in July. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Cass County gets about 7.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Cass County, 3.31 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
16% of occupied homes in Cass County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 48 times a year in Cass County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Cass County covers 376 square miles of western Illinois, with about 12,784 residents and 5,676 homes. The county seat is Virginia, and Beardstown, Ashland and Chandlerville round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1968, half after.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Cass County ranks 62 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cass County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Cass County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 38 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 109 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 39th of 102 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 15 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -14°F on January 31, 2019.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 23 and end around Apr 15.
Cass gets fewer downpours than most Illinois counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 38.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 7.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 73rd of 102. June, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.31 inches, April 30, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.22 inches, ending May 1, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 84 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Illinois's 102 counties range widely in housing age; Cass ranks 52nd, with 66% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 42% predate 1960 and 13% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 11% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 48 times a year here, close to the Illinois county median of 51. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Cass County it's 59% utility gas, 22% electric, 15% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Cass County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cass gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Mason County has the oldest housing nearby, with 82% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cass | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 42% | 38% | 46 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 66% | 66% | 52 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 15% | 61 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 5.6% | 23 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 9.7% | 11% | 63 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 17% | 53 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 38/yr | 35/yr | 39 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.4/yr | 8.4/yr | 73 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 84/yr | 81/yr | 34 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 48/yr | 51/yr | 59 of 102 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Illinois county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Cass County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, July and August.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology