Labette County, Kansas · Oswego
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Pipes freeze in Labette County on about 20 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 53% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Labette County averages 11.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Labette County spike on heavy-rain days, about 11.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Labette County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.47 inches, and about 74 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
17% of occupied homes in Labette County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
With 82 muggy nights a year, mold in Labette County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Labette County covers 645 square miles of southeast Kansas, with about 19,869 residents and 9,510 homes. Oswego is the county seat; Parsons, Altamont and Chetopa are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1958.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Labette County ranks 19 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Labette County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Labette County is milder than most of Kansas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 84 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 20 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 105 Kansas counties that's 103rd.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -13°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from December to February, 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 Nov 2 and the last spring freeze around Apr 3.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Kansas. The county gets about 44.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 11.9 days of an inch or more (4th of 105). Those downpours cluster in May, June and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.47 inches on May 21, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.84 inches (through May 23, 2019).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 74 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Roughly 76% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Labette near the middle of Kansas's 105 counties.
53% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
Beyond water
About 82 nights a year in Labette County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (5th of 105 counties). May 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Labette County homes break down as 56% utility gas, 25% electric, 12% propane and 5% 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 Labette County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Crawford and Neosho get more pipe-freeze nights than Labette. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Labette | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 53% | 48% | 35 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 74% | 37 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.8% | 11% | 61 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.6% | 5.6% | 44 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 15% | 52 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 17% | 17% | 55 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 20/yr | 39/yr | 103 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 6.8/yr | 4 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 74/yr | 97/yr | 100 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 82/yr | 59/yr | 5 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 Labette County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in May, June 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