Kandiyohi County, Minnesota · Willmar
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Willmar, Spicer and Atwater. 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.
Kandiyohi County averages 90 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 29% of its homes predate 1960.
August brings the most downpours to Kandiyohi County, part of 5.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Kandiyohi County gets about 5.2 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Kandiyohi County, 3.33 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
23% of occupied homes in Kandiyohi County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Minnesota county median of 30%.
With 12 muggy nights a year, mold in Kandiyohi County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 44,079 people live in Kandiyohi County, 797 square miles in southwest Minnesota, in roughly 20,337 homes. The county seat is Willmar, and Spicer, Atwater and New London round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1978, half after.
45/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Kandiyohi County ranks 53 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Kandiyohi County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Kandiyohi County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 160 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 90 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 41st.
On January 31, 2019 the low fell to about -32°F, and in the stretch ending March 2019 the county went 34 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 11 and end around May 3.
Rainfall is about average for Minnesota. About 5.2 days a year bring an inch or more (46th of 87), most often in August, out of 28.6 inches of total precipitation. On August 17, 2017, 3.33 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.69 inches, ending August 19, 2017, 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
Minnesota's 87 counties range widely in housing age; Kandiyohi ranks 53rd, with 53% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 29% predate 1960 and 20% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 27% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
13% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Renters occupy 28% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
About 12 nights a year in Kandiyohi County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (45th of 87 counties). August 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Kandiyohi County homes break down as 50% utility gas, 23% electric, 21% propane and 2% 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 Kandiyohi County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pope, Stearns and Swift get more pipe-freeze nights than Kandiyohi. Chippewa County has the oldest housing nearby, with 81% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Kandiyohi | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 29% | 34% | 56 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 53% | 58% | 53 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 21% | 45 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.5% | 3.8% | 46 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 11% | 32 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 23% | 30% | 57 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 90/yr | 89/yr | 41 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.2/yr | 5.3/yr | 46 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 86/yr | 32 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 12/yr | 13/yr | 45 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 Kandiyohi 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