Clark County, Missouri · Kahoka
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With 36% of homes built before 1960 and about 42 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 8.1 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
36% 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 Clark County, 3.18 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
40% of occupied homes in Clark County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 54 times a year in Clark County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 6,675 people live in Clark County, 505 square miles in northern Missouri, in roughly 3,233 homes. The county seat is Kahoka, and Wayland, Wyaconda and Luray round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1970.
54/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Clark County ranks 41 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clark County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Clark is on the colder side of Missouri for pipes. It averaged 112 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 42 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 18th.
The longest cold spell was straight 15 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -17°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 March, 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 27 and the last spring freeze around Apr 15.
Clark gets fewer downpours than most Missouri counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 37.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.1 days of an inch or more (106th of 114). Those downpours cluster in June, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.18 inches on September 6, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.35 inches (through September 8, 2018).
About 81 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 68% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Clark among the oldest housing stocks of Missouri's 114 counties.
Before 1960 is when 36% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 15% 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.
25% 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 54 times a year here, below the Missouri county median of 64.5. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Clark County's occupied homes: 27% utility gas, 31% electric, 35% propane and 5% 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 Clark County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Knox and Scotland get more pipe-freeze nights than Clark. Knox County has the oldest housing nearby, with 72% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clark | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 36% | 25% | 21 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 68% | 53% | 14 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 14% | 21% | 100 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 9.8% | 18 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 15% | 18 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 40% | 25% | 20 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 42/yr | 28/yr | 18 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.1/yr | 10/yr | 106 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 81/yr | 77/yr | 35 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 54/yr | 65/yr | 88 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 Clark County: freezing from November to March, 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