Scott County, Illinois · Winchester
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With 46% of homes built before 1960 and about 35 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Scott County averages 8.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Scott County spike on heavy-rain days, about 8.4 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Scott County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.5 inches, and about 81 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
29% of occupied homes in Scott County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 53 muggy nights a year, mold in Scott County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Scott County covers 251 square miles of western Illinois, with about 4,937 residents and 2,384 homes. Besides Winchester, the county seat, the biggest communities are Bluffs, Alsey and Manchester. The county's median home was built in 1963.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Scott County ranks 27 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Scott County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
For frozen pipes, Scott County is a typical Illinois county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 35 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 103 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 51st of 102 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 14 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near -11°F on January 15, 2024.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 23 and the last spring freeze around Apr 14.
Rainfall is about average for Illinois. The county gets about 40.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.4 days of an inch or more (51st of 102). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.5 inches on April 30, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.83 inches (through December 29, 2015).
About 81 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
Roughly 73% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Scott among the oldest housing stocks of Illinois's 102 counties.
In Scott County 46% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 8% 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.
14% 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 53 nights a year in Scott County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (43rd 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 Scott County's occupied homes: 45% utility gas, 24% electric, 26% propane and 3% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Scott County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Morgan gets more pipe-freeze nights than Scott. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Greene County has the oldest housing nearby, with 76% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Scott | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 46% | 38% | 32 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 73% | 66% | 27 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 15% | 66 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.4% | 5.6% | 37 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 11% | 22 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 29% | 17% | 12 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 35/yr | 35/yr | 51 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.4/yr | 8.4/yr | 51 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 81/yr | 81/yr | 46 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 53/yr | 51/yr | 43 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 Scott County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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