Cook County, Minnesota · Grand Marais
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With 21% of homes built before 1960 and about 120 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
September brings the most downpours to Cook County, part of 3.6 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
21% 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.
Cook County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.32 inches, and about 92 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
63% of occupied homes in Cook County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Minnesota county median of 30%.
With 0 muggy nights a year, mold in Cook County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Cook County covers 1,453 square miles of northeast Minnesota, with about 5,635 residents and 6,079 homes. Grand Marais is the county seat; Lutsen is the next largest community. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1988.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Cook County ranks 66 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cook County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Cook County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Minnesota. From 2015–2024 it averaged 120 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 197 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 1st of 87 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 79 days below freezing (ending March 2022), and the low bottomed out near -34°F on January 27, 2019.
The freeze season here runs October 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 3 and end around May 23.
Cook gets fewer downpours than most Minnesota counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 32.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3.6 days of an inch or more (69th of 87). Those downpours cluster in May, June and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.32 inches on June 19, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.5 inches, ending June 19, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 92 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
Roughly 40% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Cook among the newer housing stocks of Minnesota's 87 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 32% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
28% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
The Census counted 55% 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
Cook County averages 0 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 Cook County's occupied homes: 6% utility gas, 26% electric, 49% propane and 14% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Minnesota 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 Cook County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cook gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Lake County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cook | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 34% | 69 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 40% | 58% | 78 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 32% | 21% | 12 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.1% | 3.8% | 84 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 55% | 11% | 1 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 63% | 30% | 2 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 120/yr | 89/yr | 1 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.6/yr | 5.3/yr | 69 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 92/yr | 86/yr | 7 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 0/yr | 13/yr | 86 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 Cook County: freezing from October to April, heavy rain in May, 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