Cooper County, Missouri · Boonville
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With 35% of homes built before 1960 and about 30 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 8.8 times a year here, most often in July. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Cooper County gets about 8.8 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Cooper County, 4.86 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
25% of occupied homes in Cooper County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
About 70 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
Cooper County covers 565 square miles of central Missouri, with about 16,824 residents and 7,300 homes. The county seat is Boonville, and Pilot Grove, Otterville and Windsor Place round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1974, half after.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Cooper County ranks 25 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cooper County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Cooper County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 30 nights a year at or below 20°F (44th of 114) and 92 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -10°F on January 15, 2024. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from November to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 2 and end around Apr 10.
Cooper gets fewer downpours than most Missouri counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 40.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 8.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 86th of 114. June, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.86 inches, July 3, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.54 inches, ending July 4, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 74 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
59% of homes in Cooper County predate 1980, above the Missouri county median of 53%, which ranks 40th of Missouri's 114 counties.
Before 1960 is when 35% 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.
23% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Beyond water
Cooper County averages 70 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in July. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Cooper County it's 32% utility gas, 43% electric, 19% propane and 6% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Cooper County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Howard and Saline get more pipe-freeze nights than Cooper. Saline County has the oldest housing nearby, with 68% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cooper | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 35% | 25% | 24 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 53% | 40 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 21% | 76 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.4% | 9.8% | 90 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 15% | 62 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 25% | 61 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 30/yr | 28/yr | 44 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.8/yr | 10/yr | 86 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 74/yr | 77/yr | 77 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 70/yr | 65/yr | 32 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 Cooper County: freezing from November to February, 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