Clearwater County, Minnesota · Bagley
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Bagley, Clearbrook and Rice Lake. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Clearwater County averages 113 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 25% of its homes predate 1960.
June brings the most downpours to Clearwater County, part of 2.5 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Clearwater County gets about 2.5 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Clearwater County, 1.83 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
51% of occupied homes in Clearwater County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Minnesota county median of 30%.
About 3 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
Clearwater County covers 999 square miles of northwest Minnesota, with about 8,616 residents and 4,468 homes. Bagley is the county seat; Clearbrook, Rice Lake and Gonvick are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1980, half after.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Clearwater County ranks 73 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clearwater County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Clearwater County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Minnesota. It averaged 180 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 113 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 87 Minnesota counties that's 11th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 63 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -39°F on January 31, 2019.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to April. 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 6 and end around May 10.
Clearwater gets fewer downpours than most Minnesota counties, but they still fill basements. About 2.5 days a year bring an inch or more (86th of 87), most often in June, out of 23.4 inches of total precipitation. On June 17, 2018, 1.83 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.48 inches, ending June 9, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 81 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
50% of homes in Clearwater County predate 1980, below the Minnesota county median of 58.4%, which ranks 61st of Minnesota's 87 counties.
The mix runs from 25% built before 1960 to 25% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 25% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
13% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Minnesota county median of 3.8%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
The Census counted 25% of homes as vacant, above the Minnesota county median of 11%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 3 nights a year in Clearwater County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (76th of 87 counties). June is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Clearwater County's occupied homes: 18% utility gas, 23% electric, 38% propane and 14% 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 Clearwater County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pennington gets more pipe-freeze nights than Clearwater. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Polk County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clearwater | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 25% | 34% | 63 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 50% | 58% | 61 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 21% | 32 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 3.8% | 4 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 11% | 15 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 51% | 30% | 9 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 113/yr | 89/yr | 11 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.5/yr | 5.3/yr | 86 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 81/yr | 86/yr | 80 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 3/yr | 13/yr | 76 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 Clearwater County: freezing from November to April, 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