Crawford County, Illinois · Robinson
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With 45% of homes built before 1960 and about 26 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
July brings the most downpours to Crawford County, part of 10.5 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
45% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
Crawford County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.7 inches, and about 74 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
20% of occupied homes in Crawford County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 66 muggy nights a year, mold in Crawford County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 18,511 people live in Crawford County, 444 square miles in eastern Illinois, in roughly 8,457 homes. The county seat is Robinson, and Oblong, Palestine and Hutsonville round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1965, half after.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Crawford County ranks 25 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Crawford County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Illinois, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 26 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 92 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 72nd of 102 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 14 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -8°F on February 20, 2015.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to February. 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 27 and end around Apr 13.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Illinois. The county gets about 44.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.5 days of an inch or more (27th of 102). Those downpours cluster in April, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.7 inches on July 31, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.1 inches, ending August 16, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 74 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
70% of homes in Crawford County predate 1980, close to the Illinois county median of 65.9%, which ranks 42nd of Illinois's 102 counties.
45% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
9% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Illinois county median of 5.6%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
About 66 nights a year in Crawford County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (32nd of 102 counties). July is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Crawford County's occupied homes: 51% utility gas, 27% electric, 18% propane and 2% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Crawford County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Clark gets more pipe-freeze nights than Crawford. Lawrence County has the oldest housing nearby, with 72% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Crawford | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 45% | 38% | 33 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 70% | 66% | 42 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 15% | 67 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.5% | 5.6% | 36 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 11% | 42 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 20% | 17% | 37 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 26/yr | 35/yr | 72 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 8.4/yr | 27 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 74/yr | 81/yr | 67 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 66/yr | 51/yr | 32 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 Crawford County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in April, 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