Kosciusko County, Indiana · Warsaw
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With 30% of homes built before 1960 and about 38 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 4.7 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
30% 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 Kosciusko County, 2.99 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
13% of occupied homes in Kosciusko County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Indiana county median of 17%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 27 times a year in Kosciusko County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Kosciusko County covers 531 square miles of northeast Indiana, with about 80,442 residents and 38,864 homes. Warsaw is the county seat; Winona Lake, Syracuse and Milford are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1979.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Kosciusko County ranks 87 of 92 Indiana counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Kosciusko County ranks highest compared with other Indiana counties.
Kosciusko is on the colder side of Indiana for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 38 nights a year at or below 20°F (11th of 92) and 122 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 19 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -18°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 25 and the last spring freeze around Apr 27.
Kosciusko gets fewer downpours than most Indiana counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 37.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 4.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 91st of 92. June, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.99 inches, September 28, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.86 inches (through February 21, 2018).
About 89 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
Indiana's 92 counties range widely in housing age; Kosciusko ranks 62nd, with 51% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 30% of homes are pre-1960 and 22% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 27% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 10% 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.
18% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 27 times a year here, below the Indiana county median of 38. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Kosciusko County homes break down as 66% utility gas, 19% electric, 11% propane and 2% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Kosciusko County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Noble gets more pipe-freeze nights than Kosciusko. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Wabash County has the oldest housing nearby, with 73% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Kosciusko | Indiana median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 30% | 35% | 58 of 92 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 51% | 58% | 62 of 92 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 22% | 18% | 25 of 92 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.6% | 6.4% | 26 of 92 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 9.2% | 7 of 92 |
| Wood or propane heat | 13% | 17% | 60 of 92 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 38/yr | 33/yr | 11 of 92 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.7/yr | 7.8/yr | 91 of 92 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 89/yr | 84/yr | 10 of 92 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 27/yr | 38/yr | 85 of 92 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Indiana county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Kosciusko 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