Finney County, Kansas · Garden City
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Pipes freeze in Finney County on about 53 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 21% of the stock here, are most at risk.
July brings the most downpours to Finney County, part of 3.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Finney County spike on heavy-rain days, about 3.8 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Finney County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.12 inches, and about 119 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
5% of occupied homes in Finney County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
With 38 muggy nights a year, mold in Finney County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Finney County covers 1,302 square miles of southwest Kansas, with about 38,084 residents and 14,355 homes. Garden City is the county seat; Holcomb and Pierceville are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1978.
35/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Finney County ranks 99 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Finney County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Finney is on the colder side of Kansas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 53 nights a year at or below 20°F (14th of 105) and 134 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On December 18, 2016 the low fell to about -17°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 22 and the last spring freeze around Apr 18.
Finney gets fewer downpours than most Kansas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 18.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3.8 days of an inch or more (82nd of 105). Those downpours cluster in May, July and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.12 inches on October 22, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.2 inches (through July 28, 2018).
About 119 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
54% of homes in Finney County predate 1980, below the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 94th of Kansas's 105 counties.
16% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Kansas. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
30% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Here 13% 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.
Renters occupy 35% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
About 38 nights a year in Finney County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (85th of 105 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Finney County it's 73% utility gas, 22% electric, 5% 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 Finney County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Scott gets more pipe-freeze nights than Finney. Scott County has the oldest housing nearby, with 83% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Finney | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 48% | 102 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 74% | 94 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 11% | 28 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 5.6% | 10 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 7.8% | 15% | 92 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.7% | 17% | 100 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 53/yr | 39/yr | 14 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.8/yr | 6.8/yr | 82 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 119/yr | 97/yr | 17 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 38/yr | 59/yr | 85 of 105 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kansas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Finney County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, July 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