Seward County, Kansas · Liberal
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With 27% of homes built before 1960 and about 42 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 4.3 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Seward County gets about 4.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Seward County, 3.45 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
3% of occupied homes in Seward County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
About 49 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
Seward County covers 640 square miles of southwest Kansas, with about 21,486 residents and 8,308 homes. The county seat is Liberal, and Kismet is the other large town. Half the homes here were built before 1973, half after.
32/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Seward County ranks 103 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Seward County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Seward County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 42 nights a year at or below 20°F (39th of 105) and 125 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 15, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 23 and end around Apr 15.
Seward gets fewer downpours than most Kansas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 21.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.3 days of an inch or more (81st of 105). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.45 inches on October 22, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.66 inches, ending October 23, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 113 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
Roughly 60% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Seward among the newer housing stocks of Kansas's 105 counties.
16% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Kansas. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
About 24% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
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.
Renters occupy 38% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Seward County averages 49 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Seward County it's 76% utility gas, 19% electric, 3% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Seward County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Haskell gets more pipe-freeze nights than Seward. Meade County has the oldest housing nearby, with 83% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Seward | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 27% | 48% | 94 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 60% | 74% | 84 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 11% | 26 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 10% | 5.6% | 20 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 15% | 64 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.4% | 17% | 102 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 42/yr | 39/yr | 39 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.3/yr | 6.8/yr | 81 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 113/yr | 97/yr | 28 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 49/yr | 59/yr | 72 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 Seward County: freezing from November to March, 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