Lincoln County, Kansas · Lincoln Center
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Lincoln Center, Sylvan Grove and Beverly. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Lincoln County averages 40 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 69% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Lincoln County, part of 5.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
69% 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 Lincoln County, 2.38 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
34% of occupied homes in Lincoln County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
With 56 muggy nights a year, mold in Lincoln County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 2,923 people live in Lincoln County, 719 square miles in northern Kansas, in roughly 1,668 homes. Lincoln Center is the county seat; Sylvan Grove, Beverly and Barnard are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1938.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Lincoln County ranks 8 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lincoln County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
For frozen pipes, Lincoln County is a typical Kansas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 121 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 40 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 46th.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -16°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 November to March, 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 Oct 26 and the last spring freeze around Apr 18.
Rainfall is about average for Kansas. The county gets about 26.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 5.8 days of an inch or more (68th of 105). Those downpours cluster in May, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.38 inches on August 5, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.93 inches (through October 10, 2018).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 103 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
Roughly 86% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lincoln among the oldest housing stocks of Kansas's 105 counties.
69% 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.
23% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 56 times a year here, close to the Kansas county median of 59. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Lincoln County it's 43% utility gas, 22% electric, 32% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is above the Kansas norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Lincoln County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Mitchell, Osborne and Russell get more pipe-freeze nights than Lincoln. Osborne County has the oldest housing nearby, with 87% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lincoln | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 69% | 48% | 1 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 86% | 74% | 8 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 5.1% | 11% | 93 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.1% | 5.6% | 69 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 15% | 14 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 34% | 17% | 8 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 40/yr | 39/yr | 46 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.8/yr | 6.8/yr | 68 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 103/yr | 97/yr | 45 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 56/yr | 59/yr | 58 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 Lincoln County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, August and September.
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