Hamilton County, Iowa · Webster City
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With 58% 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 Hamilton County, part of 6.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
58% 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.
Hamilton County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.72 inches, and about 95 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
25% of occupied homes in Hamilton County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 22 times a year in Hamilton County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 14,886 people live in Hamilton County, 577 square miles in central Iowa, in roughly 7,040 homes. The county seat is Webster City, and Jewell Junction, Stratford and Stanhope round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1953.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Hamilton County ranks 28 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hamilton County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Hamilton County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 66 nights a year at or below 20°F (36th of 99) and 147 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 31, 2019 the low fell to about -25°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 14 and end around Apr 26.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. About 6.7 days a year bring an inch or more (65th of 99), most often in August, out of 35 inches of total precipitation. On August 29, 2015, 2.72 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.93 inches, ending June 21, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 95 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
79% of homes in Hamilton County predate 1980, above the Iowa county median of 72.8%, which ranks 18th of Iowa's 99 counties.
In Hamilton County 58% 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
Hamilton County averages 22 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Hamilton County homes break down as 57% utility gas, 16% electric, 24% propane and 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 Hamilton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Webster and Wright get more pipe-freeze nights than Hamilton. Hardin County has the oldest housing nearby, with 84% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hamilton | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 58% | 48% | 9 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 79% | 73% | 18 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.4% | 13% | 89 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.6% | 3.2% | 83 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 8.6% | 9.5% | 61 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 22% | 44 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 66/yr | 62/yr | 36 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.7/yr | 7.1/yr | 65 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 95/yr | 94/yr | 29 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 22/yr | 29/yr | 71 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 Hamilton 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