Dickinson County, Iowa · Spirit Lake
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With 27% of homes built before 1960 and about 81 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Dickinson County averages 7.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
27% 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.
Dickinson County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.85 inches, and about 92 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
16% of occupied homes in Dickinson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 20 times a year in Dickinson County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 17,990 people live in Dickinson County, 381 square miles in northwest Iowa, in roughly 14,206 homes. The county seat is Spirit Lake, and Milford, Lake Park and Okoboji round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1979, half after.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Dickinson County ranks 53 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Dickinson County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Dickinson County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Iowa. It averaged 155 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 81 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 99 Iowa counties that's 1st.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 33 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -27°F on January 30, 2019.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 15 and end around Apr 26.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. Of roughly 34 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 7.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 38th of 99. May, June and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.85 inches, June 21, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.2 inches, ending June 23, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
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
Iowa's 99 counties range widely in housing age; Dickinson ranks 94th, with 52% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 28% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
Here 9% 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.
38% 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 20 times a year here, below the Iowa county median of 29. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Dickinson County homes break down as 57% utility gas, 26% electric, 15% 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 Dickinson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dickinson gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Emmet County has the oldest housing nearby, with 88% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Dickinson | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 27% | 48% | 94 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 52% | 73% | 94 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 28% | 13% | 7 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.9% | 3.2% | 5 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 38% | 9.5% | 1 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 22% | 77 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 81/yr | 62/yr | 1 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.3/yr | 7.1/yr | 38 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 92/yr | 94/yr | 67 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 20/yr | 29/yr | 85 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 Dickinson County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June 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