Roseau County, Minnesota · Roseau
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Roseau County averages 116 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 21% of its homes predate 1960.
July brings the most downpours to Roseau County, part of 3.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
21% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Roseau County, 3.81 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
44% of occupied homes in Roseau 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 2 times a year in Roseau County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 7,224 homes and around 15,302 residents, Roseau County is 1,672 square miles of northwest Minnesota. The county seat is Roseau, and Warroad, Greenbush and Badger round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1982.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Roseau County ranks 70 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Roseau County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Roseau is on the colder side of Minnesota for pipes. It averaged 181 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 116 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 4th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 63 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -42°F on January 31, 2019.
The freeze season here runs November to April, with December the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 7 and the last spring freeze around May 12.
Roseau gets fewer downpours than most Minnesota counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 22.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3.2 days of an inch or more (74th of 87). Those downpours cluster in June, July and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.81 inches on September 21, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.43 inches (through June 9, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 79 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 48% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Roseau among the newer housing stocks of Minnesota's 87 counties.
The mix runs from 21% built before 1960 to 21% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
31% 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.
Here 15% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
Roseau County averages 2 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Roseau County homes break down as 26% utility gas, 25% electric, 38% propane and 6% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Roseau County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Roseau gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Kittson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 72% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Roseau | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 34% | 70 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 58% | 65 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 21% | 38 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 3.8% | 2 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 11% | 37 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 44% | 30% | 15 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 116/yr | 89/yr | 4 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.2/yr | 5.3/yr | 74 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 79/yr | 86/yr | 85 of 87 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 2/yr | 13/yr | 79 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 Roseau County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, July 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