Iroquois County, Illinois · Watseka
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Iroquois County averages 40 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 50% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Iroquois County averages 6.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Iroquois County gets about 6.5 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 89 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
18% of occupied homes in Iroquois County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 36 muggy nights a year, mold in Iroquois County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 26,449 people live in Iroquois County, 1,117 square miles in northeast Illinois, in roughly 12,789 homes. The county seat is Watseka, and Gilman, Onarga and Clifton round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1960.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Iroquois County ranks 46 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Iroquois County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Iroquois is on the colder side of Illinois for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 40 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 118 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 32nd of 102 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 19 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -19°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 24 and the last spring freeze around Apr 20.
Iroquois gets fewer downpours than most Illinois counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 38.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.5 days of an inch or more (94th of 102). Those downpours cluster in June, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.34 inches on August 6, 2023. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.25 inches (through July 9, 2015).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 89 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Roughly 78% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Iroquois among the oldest housing stocks of Illinois's 102 counties.
Before 1960 is when 50% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
Beyond water
About 36 nights a year in Iroquois County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (83rd of 102 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Iroquois County's occupied homes: 62% utility gas, 19% electric, 17% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Iroquois County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Kankakee gets more pipe-freeze nights than Iroquois. Ford County has the oldest housing nearby, with 82% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Iroquois | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 50% | 38% | 12 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 66% | 11 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.5% | 15% | 91 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.9% | 5.6% | 62 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 11% | 53 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 17% | 47 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 40/yr | 35/yr | 32 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.5/yr | 8.4/yr | 94 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 89/yr | 81/yr | 11 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 36/yr | 51/yr | 83 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 Iroquois 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