Guthrie County, Iowa · Guthrie Center
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With 45% of homes built before 1960 and about 61 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7 times a year here, most often in August. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Guthrie County gets about 7 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Guthrie County, 2.76 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
28% of occupied homes in Guthrie County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
With 29 muggy nights a year, mold in Guthrie County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 5,808 homes and around 10,688 residents, Guthrie County is 591 square miles of western Iowa. Guthrie Center is the county seat; Panora, Lake Panorama and Yale are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1968, half after.
46/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Guthrie County ranks 63 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Guthrie County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Guthrie County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 141 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 61 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 51st.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -24°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 18 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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 16 and end around Apr 25.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. About 7 days a year bring an inch or more (52nd of 99), most often in August, out of 34.2 inches of total precipitation. On September 16, 2016, 2.76 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.86 inches, ending August 22, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 98 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
Iowa's 99 counties range widely in housing age; Guthrie ranks 68th, with 67% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 45% of homes are pre-1960 and 15% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
21% 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
Guthrie County averages 29 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 Guthrie County's occupied homes: 51% utility gas, 20% electric, 26% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is 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 Guthrie County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Audubon gets more pipe-freeze nights than Guthrie. Audubon County has the oldest housing nearby, with 84% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Guthrie | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 45% | 48% | 59 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 67% | 73% | 68 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 13% | 43 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.6% | 3.2% | 83 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 21% | 9.5% | 4 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 28% | 22% | 36 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 61/yr | 62/yr | 51 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7/yr | 7.1/yr | 52 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 98/yr | 94/yr | 3 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 29/yr | 29/yr | 50 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 Guthrie 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