Brown County, Minnesota · New Ulm
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With 48% of homes built before 1960 and about 81 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 6.4 times a year here, most often in August. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Brown County gets about 6.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Brown County, 3.41 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
20% of occupied homes in Brown County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Minnesota county median of 30%.
About 22 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
About 25,800 people live in Brown County, 611 square miles in southwest Minnesota, in roughly 11,827 homes. Besides New Ulm, the county seat, the biggest communities are Sleepy Eye, Springfield and Hanska. Half the homes here were built before 1963, half after.
66/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Brown County ranks 8 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Brown County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Minnesota, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 81 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 152 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 61st of 87 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 34 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -28°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 13 and end around Apr 26.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Minnesota. The county gets about 31.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.4 days of an inch or more (18th of 87). Those downpours cluster in June, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.41 inches on August 11, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.27 inches, ending June 23, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 85 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
Minnesota's 87 counties range widely in housing age; Brown ranks 22nd, with 70% of its homes built before 1980.
In Brown County 48% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Beyond water
About 22 nights a year in Brown County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (5th of 87 counties). August is the wettest month. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Brown County's occupied homes: 62% utility gas, 14% electric, 18% propane and 2% 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 Brown County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cottonwood, Redwood and Renville get more pipe-freeze nights than Brown. Cottonwood County has the oldest housing nearby, with 78% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Brown | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 48% | 34% | 19 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 70% | 58% | 22 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 21% | 68 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.1% | 3.8% | 50 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 6.8% | 11% | 67 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 20% | 30% | 65 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 81/yr | 89/yr | 61 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.4/yr | 5.3/yr | 18 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 85/yr | 86/yr | 54 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 22/yr | 13/yr | 5 of 87 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Minnesota county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Brown County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, July and August.
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