Jewell County, Kansas · Mankato
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Jewell County averages 46 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 59% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Jewell County, part of 6.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
59% 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 Jewell County, 2.87 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
23% of occupied homes in Jewell 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 44 times a year in Jewell County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Jewell County covers 910 square miles of northern Kansas, with about 2,916 residents and 1,761 homes. Besides Mankato, the county seat, the biggest communities are Jewell, Randall and Burr Oak. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1945.
64/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Jewell County ranks 4 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jewell County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Jewell is on the colder side of Kansas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 46 nights a year at or below 20°F (32nd of 105) and 130 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 13 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -20°F on February 16, 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 22 and the last spring freeze around Apr 18.
Rainfall is about average for Kansas. Of roughly 27.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 53rd of 105. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.87 inches, May 7, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.83 inches (through September 4, 2018).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 106 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
77% of homes in Jewell County predate 1980, close to the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 34th of Kansas's 105 counties.
Before 1960 is when 59% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
10% 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.
With 25% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Jewell County averages 44 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Jewell County's occupied homes: 63% utility gas, 11% electric, 16% propane and 7% wood. Wood heat is 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 Jewell County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Osborne and Smith get more pipe-freeze nights than Jewell. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Osborne County has the oldest housing nearby, with 87% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jewell | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 59% | 48% | 13 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 77% | 74% | 34 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.5% | 11% | 75 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.6% | 5.6% | 24 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 15% | 9 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 23% | 17% | 35 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 46/yr | 39/yr | 32 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.8/yr | 6.8/yr | 53 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 106/yr | 97/yr | 38 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 44/yr | 59/yr | 77 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 Jewell 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