Cherokee County, Iowa · Cherokee
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With 52% of homes built before 1960 and about 74 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Cherokee County averages 6.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
52% 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.
Cherokee County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.28 inches, and about 97 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
19% of occupied homes in Cherokee County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
About 26 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
Cherokee County covers 577 square miles of northwest Iowa, with about 11,600 residents and 5,557 homes. Cherokee is the county seat; Marcus, Aurelia and Quimby are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1958.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Cherokee County ranks 19 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cherokee County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Cherokee County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Iowa. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 74 nights a year at or below 20°F (14th of 99) and 152 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 32 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -28°F on February 16, 2021. 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 14 and end around Apr 28.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. About 6.8 days a year bring an inch or more (61st of 99), most often in May, out of 31.5 inches of total precipitation. On August 6, 2023, 3.28 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.69 inches, ending August 19, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 97 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
84% of homes in Cherokee County predate 1980, above the Iowa county median of 72.8%, which ranks 4th of Iowa's 99 counties.
In Cherokee County 52% 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.
Beyond water
Cherokee County averages 26 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Cherokee County it's 53% utility gas, 24% electric, 18% propane and 2% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Cherokee County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
O'Brien gets more pipe-freeze nights than Cherokee. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cherokee | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 52% | 48% | 29 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 84% | 73% | 4 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 6.3% | 13% | 97 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.5% | 3.2% | 63 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 9.2% | 9.5% | 53 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 19% | 22% | 67 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 74/yr | 62/yr | 14 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.8/yr | 7.1/yr | 61 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 97/yr | 94/yr | 11 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 26/yr | 29/yr | 60 of 99 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Iowa county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Cherokee County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, 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