Cass County, Michigan · Cassopolis
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With 34% of homes built before 1960 and about 38 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 6 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 Cass County gets about 6 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Cass County, 4.71 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
32% of occupied homes in Cass County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Michigan county median of 29%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 25 times a year in Cass County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Cass County covers 490 square miles of southwest Michigan, with about 51,520 residents and 25,679 homes. The county seat is Cassopolis, and Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Marcellus round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1973, half after.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Cass County ranks 19 of 83 Michigan counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cass County ranks highest compared with other Michigan counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Michigan, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 38 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 123 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 75th of 83 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 19 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -17°F on January 31, 2019.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 26 and end around Apr 29.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Michigan. Of roughly 40.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 1st of 83. May, June and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.71 inches, August 16, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.97 inches, ending June 27, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 88 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
Michigan's 83 counties range widely in housing age; Cass ranks 36th, with 61% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 34% predate 1960 and 19% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 8% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 25 times a year here, above the Michigan county median of 10. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Cass County it's 51% utility gas, 14% electric, 27% propane and 5% wood. Propane 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 Cass County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cass gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Berrien County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cass | Michigan median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 34% | 32% | 32 of 83 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 61% | 58% | 36 of 83 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 16% | 24 of 83 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.7% | 7.3% | 34 of 83 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 20% | 45 of 83 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 29% | 37 of 83 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 38/yr | 54/yr | 75 of 83 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6/yr | 3.9/yr | 1 of 83 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 95/yr | 67 of 83 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 25/yr | 10/yr | 7 of 83 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Michigan county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Cass 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