Wabasha County, Minnesota · Wabasha
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With 32% of homes built before 1960 and about 76 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 7.7 times a year here, most often in July. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
32% 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 Wabasha County, 3.62 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
41% of occupied homes in Wabasha 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 18 times a year in Wabasha County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 10,291 homes and around 21,565 residents, Wabasha County is 523 square miles of southeast Minnesota. Besides Wabasha, the county seat, the biggest communities are Lake City, Plainview and Elgin. The county's median home was built in 1976.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Wabasha County ranks 48 of 87 Minnesota counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Wabasha County ranks highest compared with other Minnesota counties.
Wabasha County is milder than most of Minnesota, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 155 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 76 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 81st.
The longest cold spell was straight 32 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -36°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to April, with January 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 15 and the last spring freeze around May 3.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Minnesota. The county gets about 36.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 7.7 days of an inch or more (7th of 87). Those downpours cluster in June, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.62 inches on August 11, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.42 inches (through August 13, 2016).
About 92 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; Wabasha ranks 51st, with 55% of its homes built before 1980.
25% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Minnesota. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 7% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
Wabasha County averages 18 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, Wabasha County homes break down as 43% utility gas, 13% electric, 37% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Wabasha County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Goodhue and Olmsted get more pipe-freeze nights than Wabasha. Winona County has the oldest housing nearby, with 64% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Wabasha | Minnesota median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 32% | 34% | 52 of 87 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 55% | 58% | 51 of 87 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 21% | 31 of 87 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7% | 3.8% | 20 of 87 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 11% | 43 of 87 |
| Wood or propane heat | 41% | 30% | 20 of 87 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 76/yr | 89/yr | 81 of 87 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.7/yr | 5.3/yr | 7 of 87 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 92/yr | 86/yr | 7 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 Wabasha 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