Traverse County, Minnesota · Wheaton
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With 48% of homes built before 1960 and about 95 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 3.7 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 Traverse County gets about 3.7 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Traverse County, 3.07 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
58% of occupied homes in Traverse County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Minnesota county median of 30%.
With 12 muggy nights a year, mold in Traverse County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 3,243 people live in Traverse County, 574 square miles in western Minnesota, in roughly 1,896 homes. Besides Wheaton, the county seat, the biggest communities are Browns Valley, Dumont and Tintah. Half the homes here were built before 1962, half after.
56/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Traverse County ranks 29 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Traverse County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Traverse County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 95 nights a year at or below 20°F (32nd of 87) and 165 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 60 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -32°F on January 31, 2019.
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 May 5.
Traverse gets fewer downpours than most Minnesota counties, but they still fill basements. About 3.7 days a year bring an inch or more (67th of 87), most often in August, out of 24.1 inches of total precipitation. On August 14, 2023, 3.07 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.02 inches, ending July 12, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
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
Minnesota's 87 counties range widely in housing age; Traverse ranks 18th, with 72% of its homes built before 1980.
In Traverse County 48% 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.
31% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 12 times a year here, close to the Minnesota county median of 13. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Traverse County's occupied homes: 3% utility gas, 26% electric, 57% propane and under 1% wood. Propane 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 Traverse County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grant, Stevens and Wilkin get more pipe-freeze nights than Traverse. Big Stone County has the oldest housing nearby, with 75% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Traverse | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 48% | 34% | 17 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 72% | 58% | 18 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.8% | 21% | 78 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.2% | 3.8% | 49 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 31% | 11% | 9 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 58% | 30% | 5 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 95/yr | 89/yr | 32 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.7/yr | 5.3/yr | 67 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 89/yr | 86/yr | 23 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 Traverse 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