Ogemaw County, Michigan · West Branch
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With 26% of homes built before 1960 and about 64 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Ogemaw County averages 3.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
26% 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.
Ogemaw County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.48 inches, and about 101 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
52% of occupied homes in Ogemaw 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 7 times a year in Ogemaw County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Ogemaw County covers 564 square miles of northern Lower Michigan, with about 20,885 residents and 15,325 homes. West Branch is the county seat; Skidway Lake, Rose City and Prescott are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1976, half after.
44/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Ogemaw County ranks 57 of 83 Michigan counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Ogemaw County ranks highest compared with other Michigan counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Ogemaw County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 156 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 64 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 83 Michigan counties that's 29th.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -26°F, and in the stretch ending March 2015 the county went 41 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 13 and end around May 15.
Rainfall is about average for Michigan. About 3.7 days a year bring an inch or more (46th of 83), most often in August, out of 33.7 inches of total precipitation. On October 24, 2017, 3.48 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.49 inches, ending May 20, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 101 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; Ogemaw ranks 46th, with 58% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 26% built before 1960 to 15% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 27% 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.
Here 8% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
39% 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
Ogemaw County averages 7 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Ogemaw County's occupied homes: 36% utility gas, 7% electric, 39% propane and 13% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Michigan counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Ogemaw County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Oscoda and Roscommon get more pipe-freeze nights than Ogemaw. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Iosco County has the oldest housing nearby, with 67% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Ogemaw | Michigan median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 32% | 60 of 83 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 58% | 58% | 46 of 83 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 16% | 48 of 83 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.5% | 7.3% | 37 of 83 |
| Vacant homes | 39% | 20% | 15 of 83 |
| Wood or propane heat | 52% | 29% | 9 of 83 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 64/yr | 54/yr | 29 of 83 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.7/yr | 3.9/yr | 46 of 83 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 101/yr | 95/yr | 20 of 83 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 7/yr | 10/yr | 50 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 Ogemaw County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, 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