Buchanan County, Missouri · St. Joseph
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With 45% of homes built before 1960 and about 38 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
July brings the most downpours to Buchanan County, part of 9.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Buchanan County gets about 9.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Buchanan County, 4.65 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
6% of occupied homes in Buchanan County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 59 times a year in Buchanan County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 83,568 people live in Buchanan County, 408 square miles in northwest Missouri, in roughly 38,472 homes. Besides St. Joseph, the county seat, the biggest communities are Agency, De Kalb and Easton. Half the homes here were built before 1964, half after.
67/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Buchanan County ranks 3 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Buchanan County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Buchanan County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Missouri. It averaged 109 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 38 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 114 Missouri counties that's 26th.
The longest cold spell was straight 15 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -18°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to February. 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 25 and end around Apr 12.
Rainfall is about average for Missouri. Of roughly 37.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 9.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 71st of 114. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.65 inches, September 14, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.33 inches, ending June 26, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 88 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
71% of homes in Buchanan County predate 1980, above the Missouri county median of 53%, which ranks 8th of Missouri's 114 counties.
Before 1960 is when 45% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
Renters occupy 34% 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
About 59 nights a year in Buchanan County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (73rd of 114 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Buchanan County it's 54% utility gas, 39% electric, 5% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Buchanan County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Andrew, Clinton and DeKalb get more pipe-freeze nights than Buchanan. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Buchanan | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 45% | 25% | 6 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 71% | 53% | 8 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 21% | 101 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4% | 9.8% | 103 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 15% | 74 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.9% | 25% | 109 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 38/yr | 28/yr | 26 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.4/yr | 10/yr | 71 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 77/yr | 8 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 59/yr | 65/yr | 73 of 114 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Missouri county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Buchanan County: freezing from November to February, 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