Crawford County, Iowa · Denison
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With 42% of homes built before 1960 and about 66 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
August brings the most downpours to Crawford County, part of 7.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
42% 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.
Crawford County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.67 inches, and about 94 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
21% of occupied homes in Crawford County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
With 28 muggy nights a year, mold in Crawford County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 16,277 people live in Crawford County, 714 square miles in western Iowa, in roughly 6,869 homes. The county seat is Denison, and Schleswig, Manilla and Charter Oak round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1968, half after.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Crawford County ranks 51 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Crawford County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Crawford County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 66 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 140 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 36th of 99 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 19 days below freezing (ending February 2019), and the low bottomed out near -27°F on February 16, 2021.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 17 and end around Apr 24.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. The county gets about 33.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 7.3 days of an inch or more (38th of 99). Those downpours cluster in May, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.67 inches on August 20, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.83 inches, ending August 21, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 94 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
76% of homes in Crawford County predate 1980, close to the Iowa county median of 72.8%, which ranks 33rd of Iowa's 99 counties.
The mix runs from 42% built before 1960 to 9% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
Beyond water
About 28 nights a year in Crawford County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (53rd of 99 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Crawford County's occupied homes: 35% utility gas, 41% electric, 20% 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 Crawford County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ida and Sac get more pipe-freeze nights than Crawford. Ida County has the oldest housing nearby, with 84% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Crawford | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 42% | 48% | 70 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 73% | 33 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.4% | 13% | 82 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.2% | 3.2% | 31 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 7.8% | 9.5% | 75 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 21% | 22% | 58 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 66/yr | 62/yr | 36 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.3/yr | 7.1/yr | 38 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 94/yr | 94/yr | 42 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 28/yr | 29/yr | 53 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 Crawford County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, August and September.
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