Hamilton County, Kansas · Syracuse
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With 34% of homes built before 1960 and about 56 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
July brings the most downpours to Hamilton County, part of 3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
34% 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 1.9 inches, and about 128 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
19% of occupied homes in Hamilton County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
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 2,471 people live in Hamilton County, 997 square miles in southwest Kansas, in roughly 1,014 homes. The county seat is Syracuse, and Coolidge is the other large town. Half the homes here were built before 1970, half after.
36/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Hamilton County ranks 98 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hamilton County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Hamilton County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Kansas. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 56 nights a year at or below 20°F (11th of 105) and 142 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 15, 2021 the low fell to about -21°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 11 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 18 and end around Apr 18.
Hamilton gets fewer downpours than most Kansas counties, but they still fill basements. About 3 days a year bring an inch or more (96th of 105), most often in July, out of 18.1 inches of total precipitation. On April 16, 2016, 1.9 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 2.99 inches, ending July 2, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 128 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
76% of homes in Hamilton County predate 1980, close to the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 38th of Kansas's 105 counties.
The mix runs from 34% built before 1960 to 5% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
18% 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 25% 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
Hamilton County averages 22 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in July. 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 64% utility gas, 16% electric, 18% propane and 2% 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
Greeley gets more pipe-freeze nights than Hamilton. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hamilton | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 34% | 48% | 84 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 74% | 38 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 4.7% | 11% | 95 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 5.6% | 4 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 15% | 8 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 19% | 17% | 45 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 56/yr | 39/yr | 11 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3/yr | 6.8/yr | 96 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 128/yr | 97/yr | 4 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 22/yr | 59/yr | 98 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 Hamilton County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, 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