Pipestone County, Minnesota · Pipestone
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Pipestone County averages 86 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 55% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 5.2 times a year here, most often in August. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Pipestone County gets about 5.2 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 89 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
34% of occupied homes in Pipestone County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Minnesota county median of 30%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 16 times a year in Pipestone County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 9,284 people live in Pipestone County, 465 square miles in southwest Minnesota, in roughly 4,325 homes. The county seat is Pipestone, and Edgerton, Holland and Ruthton round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1956.
63/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Pipestone County ranks 15 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Pipestone County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
For frozen pipes, Pipestone County is a typical Minnesota county, which is still plenty. 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 161 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 49th of 87 counties.
On January 30, 2019 the low fell to about -28°F, and in the stretch ending March 2019 the county went 33 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 11 and the last spring freeze around May 2.
Rainfall is about average for Minnesota. Of roughly 28.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 46th of 87. June, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.42 inches, September 12, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.02 inches (through September 12, 2019).
About 89 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 80% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Pipestone among the oldest housing stocks of Minnesota's 87 counties.
In Pipestone County 55% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Beyond water
Pipestone County averages 16 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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, Pipestone County homes break down as 44% utility gas, 17% electric, 32% propane and 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than in most Minnesota counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Pipestone County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lincoln gets more pipe-freeze nights than Pipestone. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Pipestone | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 55% | 34% | 4 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 80% | 58% | 4 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 7.7% | 21% | 85 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.1% | 3.8% | 84 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 8.2% | 11% | 58 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 34% | 30% | 35 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 86/yr | 89/yr | 49 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.2/yr | 5.3/yr | 46 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 89/yr | 86/yr | 23 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 16/yr | 13/yr | 32 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 Pipestone County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, 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