Douglas County, Minnesota · Alexandria
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Douglas County averages 99 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 21% of its homes predate 1960.
August brings the most downpours to Douglas County, part of 5.1 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.
In Douglas County, 2.11 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
32% of occupied homes in Douglas County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Minnesota county median of 30%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 9 times a year in Douglas County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Douglas County covers 637 square miles of western Minnesota, with about 39,575 residents and 22,332 homes. Besides Alexandria, the county seat, the biggest communities are Osakis, Evansville and Carlos. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
44/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Douglas County ranks 55 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Douglas County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Douglas is on the colder side of Minnesota for pipes. It averaged 168 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 99 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 26th.
The longest cold spell was straight 60 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -35°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 11 and the last spring freeze around May 6.
Rainfall is about average for Minnesota. About 5.1 days a year bring an inch or more (49th of 87), most often in August, out of 26.8 inches of total precipitation. On July 18, 2020, 2.11 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.52 inches (through July 12, 2016).
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
44% of homes in Douglas County predate 1980, below the Minnesota county median of 58.4%, which ranks 71st of Minnesota's 87 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 32% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 24% 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.
With 22% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Douglas County averages 9 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 Douglas County's occupied homes: 39% utility gas, 24% electric, 29% propane and 3% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Douglas County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Otter Tail gets more pipe-freeze nights than Douglas. Grant County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Douglas | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 34% | 68 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 58% | 71 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 32% | 21% | 11 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4% | 3.8% | 40 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 11% | 17 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 30% | 39 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 99/yr | 89/yr | 26 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.1/yr | 5.3/yr | 49 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 85/yr | 86/yr | 54 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 9/yr | 13/yr | 57 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 Douglas County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in July, 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