Boone County, Nebraska · Albion
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With 52% of homes built before 1960 and about 66 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Boone County, part of 5.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
52% 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 Boone County, 2.42 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
16% of occupied homes in Boone County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
With 28 muggy nights a year, mold in Boone County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 5,356 people live in Boone County, 687 square miles in eastern Nebraska, in roughly 2,555 homes. Besides Albion, the county seat, the biggest communities are St. Edward, Cedar Rapids and Petersburg. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1957.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Boone County ranks 22 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Boone County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
For frozen pipes, Boone County is a typical Nebraska county, which is still plenty. It averaged 147 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 66 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 93 Nebraska counties that's 41st.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -29°F, and in the stretch ending March 2019 the county went 20 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. 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 15 and the last spring freeze around Apr 28.
Rainfall is about average for Nebraska. Of roughly 26.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 41st of 93. May, June and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.42 inches, August 16, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.59 inches (through March 16, 2021).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 107 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
73% of homes in Boone County predate 1980, close to the Nebraska county median of 73.1%, which ranks 50th of Nebraska's 93 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 52% of homes are pre-1960 and 12% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
Beyond water
Boone County averages 28 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Boone County's occupied homes: 34% utility gas, 49% electric, 13% propane and 2% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Boone County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Antelope, Greeley, Madison and Wheeler get more pipe-freeze nights than Boone. Nance County has the oldest housing nearby, with 81% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Boone | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 52% | 49% | 33 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 73% | 73% | 50 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 12% | 44 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.6% | 5% | 85 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 14% | 47 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 19% | 66 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 66/yr | 64/yr | 41 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.2/yr | 5.1/yr | 41 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 107/yr | 112/yr | 53 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 28/yr | 27/yr | 40 of 93 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Nebraska county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Boone County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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