Rice County, Kansas · Lyons
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With 60% of homes built before 1960 and about 37 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Rice County, part of 6.9 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Rice County spike on heavy-rain days, about 6.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Rice County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.03 inches, and about 96 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
13% of occupied homes in Rice County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
With 62 muggy nights a year, mold in Rice County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 4,384 homes and around 9,350 residents, Rice County is 726 square miles of central Kansas. The county seat is Lyons, and Sterling, Chase and Little River round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1953.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Rice County ranks 9 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Rice County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
For frozen pipes, Rice County is a typical Kansas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 113 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 37 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 57th.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -14°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 26 and the last spring freeze around Apr 14.
Rainfall is about average for Kansas. Of roughly 28.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6.9 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 51st of 105. May, June and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.03 inches, May 8, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.2 inches (through October 10, 2018).
About 96 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
82% of homes in Rice County predate 1980, above the Kansas county median of 73.7%, which ranks 20th of Kansas's 105 counties.
60% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 62 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Rice County homes break down as 67% utility gas, 17% electric, 11% propane and 2% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Rice County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Barton and Stafford get more pipe-freeze nights than Rice. Stafford County has the oldest housing nearby, with 83% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Rice | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 60% | 48% | 10 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 82% | 74% | 20 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.9% | 11% | 71 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.9% | 5.6% | 89 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 15% | 49 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 13% | 17% | 77 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 37/yr | 39/yr | 57 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.9/yr | 6.8/yr | 51 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 96/yr | 97/yr | 54 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 62/yr | 59/yr | 48 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 Rice County: freezing from November to March, 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