Jo Daviess County, Illinois · Galena
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Jo Daviess County averages 57 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 35% of its homes predate 1960.
July brings the most downpours to Jo Daviess County, part of 8.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
35% 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.
In Jo Daviess County, 4.16 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
36% of occupied homes in Jo Daviess County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 26 muggy nights a year, mold in Jo Daviess County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 13,440 homes and around 21,851 residents, Jo Daviess County is 601 square miles of northwest Illinois. The county seat is Galena, and Stockton, The Galena Territory and East Dubuque round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1976.
55/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Jo Daviess County ranks 33 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jo Daviess County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Jo Daviess is on the colder side of Illinois for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 57 nights a year at or below 20°F (1st of 102) and 137 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 17 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -32°F on January 31, 2019.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 19 and the last spring freeze around Apr 24.
Rainfall is about average for Illinois. The county gets about 40.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.8 days of an inch or more (44th of 102). Those downpours cluster in July, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.16 inches on July 22, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.9 inches (through July 22, 2017).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 91 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
Roughly 55% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Jo Daviess among the newer housing stocks of Illinois's 102 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 35% of homes are pre-1960 and 18% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
27% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
23% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
About 26 nights a year in Jo Daviess County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (98th of 102 counties). June 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Jo Daviess County it's 52% utility gas, 9% electric, 34% propane and 2% wood. Propane 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 Jo Daviess County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Jo Daviess gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Stephenson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 75% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jo Daviess | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 35% | 38% | 67 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 55% | 66% | 83 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 15% | 28 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.5% | 5.6% | 79 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 11% | 8 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 36% | 17% | 6 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 57/yr | 35/yr | 1 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.8/yr | 8.4/yr | 44 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 91/yr | 81/yr | 3 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 26/yr | 51/yr | 98 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 Jo Daviess County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in July, September and October.
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