Cherry County, Nebraska · Valentine
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With 38% of homes built before 1960 and about 76 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Cherry County averages 2.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Cherry County spike on heavy-rain days, about 2.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Cherry County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 1.9 inches, and about 128 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
40% of occupied homes in Cherry County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 5 times a year in Cherry County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 3,009 homes and around 5,498 residents, Cherry County is 5,960 square miles of northwest Nebraska. The county seat is Valentine, and Kilgore, Cody and Merriman round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1971.
40/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Cherry County ranks 78 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cherry County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Cherry is on the colder side of Nebraska for pipes. It averaged 165 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 76 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 7th.
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 -23°F on February 15, 2021.
Most freezing nights fall from November to April, 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 7 and the last spring freeze around May 12.
Cherry gets fewer downpours than most Nebraska counties, but they still fill basements. About 2.6 days a year bring an inch or more (77th of 93), most often in April, out of 23.2 inches of total precipitation. On June 14, 2016, 1.9 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 2.86 inches (through May 22, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 128 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
64% of homes in Cherry County predate 1980, below the Nebraska county median of 73.1%, which ranks 75th of Nebraska's 93 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 20% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
7% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Nebraska county median of 5%. 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.
With 26% 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.
Renters occupy 39% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Cherry County averages 5 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 Cherry County it's 8% utility gas, 47% electric, 36% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Nebraska counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Cherry County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Sheridan gets more pipe-freeze nights than Cherry. Sheridan County has the oldest housing nearby, with 87% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cherry | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 38% | 49% | 76 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 64% | 73% | 75 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 12% | 12 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.3% | 5% | 24 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 26% | 14% | 14 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 40% | 19% | 16 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 76/yr | 64/yr | 7 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.6/yr | 5.1/yr | 77 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 128/yr | 112/yr | 20 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 5/yr | 27/yr | 80 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 Cherry County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in April, May and June.
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