Goodhue County, Minnesota · Red Wing
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Pipes freeze in Goodhue County on about 77 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 36% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Goodhue County averages 6.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Goodhue County spike on heavy-rain days, about 6.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Goodhue County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.89 inches, and about 88 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
25% of occupied homes in Goodhue County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Minnesota county median of 30%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 17 times a year in Goodhue County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 47,943 people live in Goodhue County, 757 square miles in southern Minnesota, in roughly 21,167 homes. The county seat is Red Wing, and Cannon Falls, Zumbrota and Pine Island round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1973.
50/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Goodhue County ranks 43 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Goodhue County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Goodhue County is milder than most of Minnesota, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 77 nights a year at or below 20°F (78th of 87) and 154 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 31, 2019 the low fell to about -33°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 19 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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 14 and the last spring freeze around May 2.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Minnesota. About 6.7 days a year bring an inch or more (17th of 87), most often in July, out of 35.4 inches of total precipitation. On August 11, 2016, 3.89 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.56 inches (through August 13, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 88 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
59% of homes in Goodhue County predate 1980, close to the Minnesota county median of 58.4%, which ranks 43rd of Minnesota's 87 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 36% of homes are pre-1960 and 21% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
Beyond water
About 17 nights a year in Goodhue County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (29th of 87 counties). June is the wettest month. 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 Goodhue County's occupied homes: 56% utility gas, 16% electric, 22% propane and 3% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Goodhue County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dodge, Olmsted and Rice get more pipe-freeze nights than Goodhue. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Goodhue | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 36% | 34% | 39 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 58% | 43 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 21% | 40 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.9% | 3.8% | 31 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 6.8% | 11% | 67 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 30% | 55 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 77/yr | 89/yr | 78 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.7/yr | 5.3/yr | 17 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 86/yr | 32 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 17/yr | 13/yr | 29 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 Goodhue County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, 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