Clinton County, Missouri · Plattsburg
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Clinton County averages 39 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to February, and 27% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Clinton County averages 8.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Clinton County gets about 8.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 86 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
25% of occupied homes in Clinton County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 52 times a year in Clinton County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 21,414 people live in Clinton County, 419 square miles in northwest Missouri, in roughly 9,077 homes. The county seat is Plattsburg, and Cameron, Lathrop and Gower round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1978.
46/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Clinton County ranks 71 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clinton County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Clinton is on the colder side of Missouri for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 39 nights a year at or below 20°F (22nd of 114) and 109 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 15 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near -16°F on February 16, 2021.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 25 and the last spring freeze around Apr 13.
Clinton gets fewer downpours than most Missouri counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 37.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.4 days of an inch or more (99th of 114). Those downpours cluster in May, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.67 inches on June 25, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.69 inches (through June 26, 2021).
About 86 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
54% of homes in Clinton County predate 1980, close to the Missouri county median of 53%, which ranks 53rd of Missouri's 114 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 27% of homes are pre-1960 and 24% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
Beyond water
About 52 nights a year in Clinton County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (94th of 114 counties). May is the wettest month. 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, Clinton County homes break down as 43% utility gas, 31% electric, 22% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is above the Missouri norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Clinton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
DeKalb gets more pipe-freeze nights than Clinton. Buchanan County has the oldest housing nearby, with 71% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clinton | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 27% | 25% | 51 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 53% | 53 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 21% | 40 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.5% | 9.8% | 104 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 8.2% | 15% | 98 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 25% | 63 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 39/yr | 28/yr | 22 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.4/yr | 10/yr | 99 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 86/yr | 77/yr | 16 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 52/yr | 65/yr | 94 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 Clinton 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