Brown County, Nebraska · Ainsworth
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With 51% of homes built before 1960 and about 74 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 3.3 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Brown County gets about 3.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Brown County, 2.75 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
17% of occupied homes in Brown County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
About 10 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
About 2,869 people live in Brown County, 1,221 square miles in northern Nebraska, in roughly 1,656 homes. Besides Ainsworth, the county seat, the biggest communities are Long Pine and Johnstown. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1959.
53/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Brown County ranks 32 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Brown County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Brown County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Nebraska. From 2015–2024 it averaged 74 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 160 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 10th of 93 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 22 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -25°F on February 15, 2021.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to April. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 11 and end around May 5.
Brown gets fewer downpours than most Nebraska counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 24.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3.3 days of an inch or more (69th of 93). Those downpours cluster in May, July and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.75 inches on April 30, 2022. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.39 inches, ending September 12, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 123 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
Nebraska's 93 counties range widely in housing age; Brown ranks 31st, with 78% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 51% built before 1960 to 7% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
With 23% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
About 10 nights a year in Brown County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (69th of 93 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 Brown County's occupied homes: 45% utility gas, 36% electric, 14% propane and 2% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Brown County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cherry gets more pipe-freeze nights than Brown. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Brown | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 51% | 49% | 40 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 73% | 31 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 7.3% | 12% | 79 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.3% | 5% | 54 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 14% | 19 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 17% | 19% | 61 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 74/yr | 64/yr | 10 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.3/yr | 5.1/yr | 69 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 123/yr | 112/yr | 31 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 10/yr | 27/yr | 69 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 Brown County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, July and September.
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