Posey County, Indiana · Mount Vernon
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Pipes freeze in Posey County on about 18 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 28% of the stock here, are most at risk.
March brings the most downpours to Posey County, part of 11.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
28% 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.
Posey County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.18 inches, and about 65 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
7% of occupied homes in Posey County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Indiana county median of 17%.
With 82 muggy nights a year, mold in Posey County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 11,105 homes and around 25,116 residents, Posey County is 409 square miles of southwest Indiana. Mount Vernon is the county seat; Poseyville, St. Wendel and New Harmony are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1976, half after.
44/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Posey County ranks 69 of 92 Indiana counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Posey County ranks highest compared with other Indiana counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Indiana, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 18 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 77 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 91st of 92 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 13 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near -5°F on December 23, 2022.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 1 and end around Apr 3.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Indiana. Of roughly 47 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 11.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 19th of 92. February, March and June see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.18 inches, October 29, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.98 inches, ending May 1, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 65 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 60% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Posey near the middle of Indiana's 92 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 28% of homes are pre-1960 and 17% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 23% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Here 7% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 82 times a year here, above the Indiana county median of 38. 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 Posey County's occupied homes: 47% utility gas, 46% electric, 6% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Posey County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Gibson gets more pipe-freeze nights than Posey. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Vanderburgh County has the oldest housing nearby, with 63% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Posey | Indiana median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 35% | 64 of 92 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 60% | 58% | 40 of 92 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 18% | 57 of 92 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7% | 6.4% | 40 of 92 |
| Vacant homes | 5.2% | 9.2% | 85 of 92 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7% | 17% | 74 of 92 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 18/yr | 33/yr | 91 of 92 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 7.8/yr | 19 of 92 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 65/yr | 84/yr | 91 of 92 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 82/yr | 38/yr | 1 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 Posey County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March and June.
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