Menominee County, Michigan · Menominee
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Pipes freeze in Menominee County on about 85 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 41% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Menominee County averages 2.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Menominee County spike on heavy-rain days, about 2.8 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Menominee County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 1.64 inches, and about 110 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
35% of occupied homes in Menominee County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Michigan county median of 29%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 2 times a year in Menominee County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Menominee County covers 1,044 square miles of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with about 23,247 residents and 13,262 homes. Menominee is the county seat; Stephenson, Hermansville and Powers are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1970.
56/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Menominee County ranks 30 of 83 Michigan counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Menominee County ranks highest compared with other Michigan counties.
Menominee is on the colder side of Michigan for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 85 nights a year at or below 20°F (11th of 83) and 173 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 36 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -22°F on February 1, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to April, 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 10 and the last spring freeze around May 19.
Menominee gets fewer downpours than most Michigan counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 31.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 2.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 73rd of 83. April, June and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 1.64 inches, October 25, 2023. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.07 inches (through June 18, 2018).
About 110 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 65% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Menominee among the oldest housing stocks of Michigan's 83 counties.
Before 1960 is when 41% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
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.
22% 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 2 times a year here, below the Michigan county median of 10. 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 Menominee County it's 52% utility gas, 9% electric, 27% propane and 9% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Menominee County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dickinson and Marquette get more pipe-freeze nights than Menominee. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Marquette County has the oldest housing nearby, with 68% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Menominee | Michigan median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 41% | 32% | 14 of 83 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 65% | 58% | 24 of 83 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 16% | 65 of 83 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.5% | 7.3% | 37 of 83 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 20% | 38 of 83 |
| Wood or propane heat | 35% | 29% | 34 of 83 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 85/yr | 54/yr | 11 of 83 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.8/yr | 3.9/yr | 73 of 83 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 110/yr | 95/yr | 1 of 83 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 2/yr | 10/yr | 70 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 Menominee County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in April, June 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