Grant County, Kansas · Ulysses
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Grant County averages 50 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 37% of its homes predate 1960.
July brings the most downpours to Grant County, part of 3.5 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Grant County gets about 3.5 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Grant County, 2.56 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in Grant County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
About 36 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
About 7,229 people live in Grant County, 575 square miles in southwest Kansas, in roughly 2,933 homes. The county seat is Ulysses. Half the homes here were built before 1974, half after.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Grant County ranks 95 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Grant County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Grant County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Kansas. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 50 nights a year at or below 20°F (21st of 105) and 133 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 12 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -16°F on February 15, 2021.
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 22 and end around Apr 16.
Grant gets fewer downpours than most Kansas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 18.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3.5 days of an inch or more (85th of 105). Those downpours cluster in April, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.56 inches on October 22, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 2.73 inches, ending October 9, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 120 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
59% of homes in Grant County predate 1980, below the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 89th of Kansas's 105 counties.
The mix runs from 37% built before 1960 to 13% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 28% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
23% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Kansas county median of 5.6%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
The Census counted 19% of homes as vacant, above the Kansas county median of 14.9%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 36 nights a year in Grant County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (86th of 105 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 Grant County's occupied homes: 68% utility gas, 23% electric, 10% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Grant County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Kearny gets more pipe-freeze nights than Grant. Haskell County has the oldest housing nearby, with 67% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Grant | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 37% | 48% | 80 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 74% | 89 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 11% | 35 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 23% | 5.6% | 2 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 15% | 26 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.7% | 17% | 87 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 50/yr | 39/yr | 21 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.5/yr | 6.8/yr | 85 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 120/yr | 97/yr | 15 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 36/yr | 59/yr | 86 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 Grant County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, July 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