Gentry County, Missouri · Albany
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With 34% of homes built before 1960 and about 46 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 9.1 times a year here, most often in August. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
34% 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 Gentry County, 3.95 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
27% of occupied homes in Gentry County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 49 muggy nights a year, mold in Gentry County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 2,923 homes and around 6,245 residents, Gentry County is 491 square miles of northwest Missouri. Besides Albany, the county seat, the biggest communities are Stanberry, King City and McFall. The county's median home was built in 1971.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Gentry County ranks 22 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gentry County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Gentry is on the colder side of Missouri for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 46 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 117 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 8th of 114 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 16 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -17°F on February 16, 2021. 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 25 and the last spring freeze around Apr 13.
Gentry gets fewer downpours than most Missouri counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 38.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 9.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 78th of 114. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.95 inches, June 29, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.6 inches (through June 30, 2017).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 88 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
Missouri's 114 counties range widely in housing age; Gentry ranks 20th, with 66% of its homes built before 1980.
34% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
10% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Missouri county median of 9.8%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
About 49 nights a year in Gentry County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (98th 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, Gentry County homes break down as 40% utility gas, 28% electric, 17% propane and 11% wood. Wood 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 Gentry County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Harrison, Nodaway and Worth get more pipe-freeze nights than Gentry. Worth County has the oldest housing nearby, with 75% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gentry | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 34% | 25% | 31 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 66% | 53% | 20 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 21% | 79 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 10% | 9.8% | 53 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 15% | 49 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 27% | 25% | 54 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 46/yr | 28/yr | 8 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.1/yr | 10/yr | 78 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 77/yr | 8 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 49/yr | 65/yr | 98 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 Gentry County: freezing from November to March, 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