Shannon County, Missouri · Eminence
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Pipes freeze in Shannon County on about 22 nights a year, mostly November to February. Older homes, 21% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Shannon County averages 12 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Shannon County gets about 12 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 81 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
63% of occupied homes in Shannon County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 61 muggy nights a year, mold in Shannon County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 7,177 people live in Shannon County, 1,004 square miles in southeast Missouri, in roughly 3,517 homes. Eminence is the county seat; Winona, Birch Tree and Montier are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1980.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Shannon County ranks 87 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Shannon County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Shannon County is milder than most of Missouri, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 22 nights a year at or below 20°F (86th of 114) and 89 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -6°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 10 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs November to February, 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 8.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. Of roughly 49.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 12 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 31st of 114. March, May and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.37 inches, April 30, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.01 inches (through November 6, 2024).
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
Missouri's 114 counties range widely in housing age; Shannon ranks 67th, with 50% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 21% built before 1960 to 20% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 30% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 14% 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.
18% 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
Shannon County averages 61 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Shannon County it's 1% utility gas, 35% electric, 43% propane and 20% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Shannon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dent, Reynolds and Texas get more pipe-freeze nights than Shannon. Reynolds County has the oldest housing nearby, with 61% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Shannon | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 25% | 73 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 50% | 53% | 67 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 21% | 64 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 14% | 9.8% | 22 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 15% | 44 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 63% | 25% | 1 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 22/yr | 28/yr | 86 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 10/yr | 31 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 81/yr | 77/yr | 35 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 61/yr | 65/yr | 65 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 Shannon County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in March, May 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