Lyon County, Minnesota · Marshall
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Lyon County averages 86 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 34% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Lyon County averages 5.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Lyon County spike on heavy-rain days, about 5.4 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 87 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
21% of occupied homes in Lyon County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Minnesota county median of 30%.
With 18 muggy nights a year, mold in Lyon County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 25,503 people live in Lyon County, 714 square miles in southwest Minnesota, in roughly 11,269 homes. Besides Marshall, the county seat, the biggest communities are Tracy, Minneota and Cottonwood. Half the homes here were built before 1972, half after.
53/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Lyon County ranks 36 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lyon County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Lyon County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 86 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 157 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 49th of 87 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 33 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -29°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 December, 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 Apr 30.
Rainfall is about average for Minnesota. Of roughly 29.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 39th of 87. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.94 inches, August 17, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.85 inches, ending September 12, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 87 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
Roughly 63% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lyon near the middle of Minnesota's 87 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 34% of homes are pre-1960 and 15% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
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
Lyon County averages 18 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Lyon County it's 42% utility gas, 32% electric, 21% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Lyon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lincoln and Yellow Medicine get more pipe-freeze nights than Lyon. Pipestone County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lyon | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 34% | 34% | 43 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 63% | 58% | 37 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 21% | 58 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3% | 3.8% | 52 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 11% | 49 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 21% | 30% | 60 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 86/yr | 89/yr | 49 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.4/yr | 5.3/yr | 39 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 87/yr | 86/yr | 37 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 18/yr | 13/yr | 23 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 Lyon 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