White County, Illinois · Carmi
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With 47% of homes built before 1960 and about 20 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 10.9 times a year here, most often in March. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
47% 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 White County, 3.46 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
21% of occupied homes in White County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 77 times a year in White County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 6,730 homes and around 13,619 residents, White County is 495 square miles of southeast Illinois. Besides Carmi, the county seat, the biggest communities are Norris City, Grayville and Crossville. The county's median home was built in 1962.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated White County ranks 21 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where White County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
White County is milder than most of Illinois, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 20 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 80 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 91st of 102 counties.
On December 23, 2022 the low fell to about -6°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 1 and the last spring freeze around Apr 4.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Illinois. About 10.9 days a year bring an inch or more (22nd of 102), most often in March, out of 46.9 inches of total precipitation. On April 29, 2017, 3.46 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.71 inches (through May 1, 2017).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 68 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
72% of homes in White County predate 1980, above the Illinois county median of 65.9%, which ranks 33rd of Illinois's 102 counties.
In White County 47% 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.
Here 12% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
The Census counted 16% of homes as vacant, above the Illinois county median of 10.8%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
White County averages 77 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, White County homes break down as 59% utility gas, 20% electric, 17% propane and 3% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Illinois counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across White County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Edwards, Wabash and Wayne get more pipe-freeze nights than White. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | White | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 47% | 38% | 23 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 72% | 66% | 33 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.7% | 15% | 86 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 5.6% | 21 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 11% | 19 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 21% | 17% | 34 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 20/yr | 35/yr | 91 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 8.4/yr | 22 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 68/yr | 81/yr | 85 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 77/yr | 51/yr | 11 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 White County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in March, 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