Pulaski County, Indiana · Winamac
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Pipes freeze in Pulaski County on about 39 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 42% of the stock here, are most at risk.
June brings the most downpours to Pulaski County, part of 6.6 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Pulaski County spike on heavy-rain days, about 6.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Pulaski County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.16 inches, and about 92 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
38% of occupied homes in Pulaski County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Indiana county median of 17%.
With 29 muggy nights a year, mold in Pulaski County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 12,441 people live in Pulaski County, 434 square miles in northern Indiana, in roughly 5,850 homes. The county seat is Winamac, and Francesville, Medaryville and Star City round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1970.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Pulaski County ranks 10 of 92 Indiana counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Pulaski County ranks highest compared with other Indiana counties.
Pulaski is on the colder side of Indiana for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 39 nights a year at or below 20°F (6th of 92) and 121 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 -20°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. 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 Oct 23 and the last spring freeze around Apr 29.
Rainfall is about average for Indiana. About 6.6 days a year bring an inch or more (58th of 92), most often in June, out of 41.2 inches of total precipitation. On August 16, 2016, 5.16 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.53 inches (through February 21, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 92 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
63% of homes in Pulaski County predate 1980, above the Indiana county median of 58.2%, which ranks 33rd of Indiana's 92 counties.
In Pulaski County 42% 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.
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.
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 15% of homes as vacant, above the Indiana county median of 9.2%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 29 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Pulaski County it's 48% utility gas, 12% electric, 32% propane and 6% 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 Pulaski County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Jasper gets more pipe-freeze nights than Pulaski. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. White County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Pulaski | Indiana median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 42% | 35% | 26 of 92 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 63% | 58% | 33 of 92 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 10% | 18% | 84 of 92 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 6.4% | 16 of 92 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 9.2% | 9 of 92 |
| Wood or propane heat | 38% | 17% | 4 of 92 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 39/yr | 33/yr | 6 of 92 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.6/yr | 7.8/yr | 58 of 92 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 92/yr | 84/yr | 1 of 92 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 29/yr | 38/yr | 82 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 Pulaski 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