Louisa County, Iowa · Wapello
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With 44% of homes built before 1960 and about 49 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Louisa County, part of 7.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
44% 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.
In Louisa County, 3.29 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
32% of occupied homes in Louisa County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
With 40 muggy nights a year, mold in Louisa County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Louisa County covers 402 square miles of southeast Iowa, with about 10,678 residents and 4,739 homes. Wapello is the county seat; Columbus Junction, Morning Sun and Grandview are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1966.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Louisa County ranks 75 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Louisa County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Louisa County is milder than most of Iowa, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 49 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 127 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 94th of 99 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 15 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -27°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 24 and the last spring freeze around Apr 23.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. About 7.3 days a year bring an inch or more (38th of 99), most often in June, out of 36.2 inches of total precipitation. On August 29, 2018, 3.29 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.66 inches (through May 1, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 91 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
Roughly 70% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Louisa near the middle of Iowa's 99 counties.
The mix runs from 44% built before 1960 to 15% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
Here 10% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 40 times a year here, above the Iowa county median of 29. 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 Louisa County's occupied homes: 44% utility gas, 22% electric, 29% propane and 3% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Louisa County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Henry, Johnson, Muscatine and Washington get more pipe-freeze nights than Louisa. Des Moines County has the oldest housing nearby, with 75% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Louisa | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 44% | 48% | 63 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 70% | 73% | 56 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 13% | 39 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.5% | 3.2% | 2 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 9.5% | 35 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 22% | 26 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 49/yr | 62/yr | 94 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.3/yr | 7.1/yr | 38 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 91/yr | 94/yr | 78 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 40/yr | 29/yr | 11 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 Louisa County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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