Presque Isle County, Michigan · Rogers City
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Pipes freeze in Presque Isle County on about 68 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 33% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Presque Isle County averages 1.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Presque Isle County gets about 1.8 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 98 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
38% of occupied homes in Presque Isle 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 4 times a year in Presque Isle County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 13,209 people live in Presque Isle County, 659 square miles in northern Lower Michigan, in roughly 9,802 homes. Rogers City is the county seat; Presque Isle Harbor, Onaway and Posen are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1973.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Presque Isle County ranks 64 of 83 Michigan counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Presque Isle County ranks highest compared with other Michigan counties.
Presque Isle is on the colder side of Michigan for pipes. It averaged 156 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 68 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 21st.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -24°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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 16 and the last spring freeze around May 12.
Presque Isle gets fewer downpours than most Michigan counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 32.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 1.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 81st of 83. April, June and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.34 inches, October 24, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.42 inches (through October 25, 2017).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 98 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Michigan's 83 counties range widely in housing age; Presque Isle ranks 30th, with 64% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 33% of homes are pre-1960 and 15% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
32% 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
Presque Isle County averages 4 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in October. 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 Presque Isle County it's 53% utility gas, 7% electric, 24% propane and 13% wood. Wood heat is 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 Presque Isle County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cheboygan, Chippewa, Mackinac and Montmorency get more pipe-freeze nights than Presque Isle. Alpena County has the oldest housing nearby, with 72% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Presque Isle | Michigan median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 33% | 32% | 38 of 83 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 64% | 58% | 30 of 83 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 16% | 53 of 83 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.6% | 7.3% | 59 of 83 |
| Vacant homes | 32% | 20% | 26 of 83 |
| Wood or propane heat | 38% | 29% | 29 of 83 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 68/yr | 54/yr | 21 of 83 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 1.8/yr | 3.9/yr | 81 of 83 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 98/yr | 95/yr | 30 of 83 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 4/yr | 10/yr | 61 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 Presque Isle County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in April, 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