Houston County, Minnesota · Caledonia
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Pipes freeze in Houston County on about 68 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 40% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Houston County averages 8.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Houston County spike on heavy-rain days, about 8.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 88 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
32% of occupied homes in Houston 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 22 times a year in Houston County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Houston County covers 552 square miles of southeast Minnesota, with about 18,653 residents and 8,774 homes. Caledonia is the county seat; La Crescent, Spring Grove and Houston are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1972, half after.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Houston County ranks 24 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Houston County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Minnesota, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 147 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 68 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 87th.
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 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 17 and end around May 2.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Minnesota. Of roughly 38.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 8.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 2nd of 87. June, August and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.81 inches, September 22, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.06 inches, ending September 23, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 88 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
Roughly 62% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Houston near the middle of Minnesota's 87 counties.
40% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
23% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 22 times a year here, above the Minnesota county median of 13. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Houston County homes break down as 50% utility gas, 12% electric, 25% propane and 7% wood. Wood heat is 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 Houston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Every neighboring county gets more pipe-freeze nights than Houston. Winona County has the oldest housing nearby, with 64% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Houston | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 40% | 34% | 35 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 62% | 58% | 39 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 21% | 56 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.1% | 3.8% | 50 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 7.3% | 11% | 62 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 30% | 41 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 68/yr | 89/yr | 87 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.7/yr | 5.3/yr | 2 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 86/yr | 32 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 Houston County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, 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