Harper County, Kansas · Anthony
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Pipes freeze in Harper County on about 26 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 58% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Harper County averages 7.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
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.
Harper County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.77 inches, and about 84 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
18% of occupied homes in Harper County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
About 78 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
With 3,020 homes and around 5,400 residents, Harper County is 801 square miles of southern Kansas. Anthony is the county seat; Harper, Attica and Bluff City are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1956.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Harper County ranks 22 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Harper County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Kansas, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 26 nights a year at or below 20°F (91st of 105) and 97 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 12 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -14°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 29 and end around Apr 10.
Rainfall is about average for Kansas. About 7.7 days a year bring an inch or more (45th of 105), most often in May, out of 30.8 inches of total precipitation. On July 7, 2015, 3.77 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.46 inches, ending October 10, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 84 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 Harper County predate 1980, close to the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 26th of Kansas's 105 counties.
In Harper 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.
8% 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 27% 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 78 nights a year in Harper County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (10th of 105 counties). May is the wettest month. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Harper County's occupied homes: 64% utility gas, 15% electric, 17% propane and 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 Harper County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Barber and Kingman get more pipe-freeze nights than Harper. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Harper | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 58% | 48% | 15 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 79% | 74% | 26 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 6.6% | 11% | 83 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.5% | 5.6% | 37 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 27% | 15% | 5 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 17% | 49 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 26/yr | 39/yr | 91 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.7/yr | 6.8/yr | 45 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 84/yr | 97/yr | 79 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 78/yr | 59/yr | 10 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 Harper County: freezing from December to February, 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