Holt County, Nebraska · O'Neill
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Holt County averages 72 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 43% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 4.6 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
43% 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 Holt County, 2.77 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
19% of occupied homes in Holt County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
With 17 muggy nights a year, mold in Holt County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 10,102 people live in Holt County, 2,412 square miles in northern Nebraska, in roughly 4,900 homes. O'Neill is the county seat; Atkinson, Stuart and Chambers are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1966.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Holt County ranks 44 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Holt County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Holt is on the colder side of Nebraska for pipes. It averaged 156 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 72 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 17th.
The longest cold spell was straight 23 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -28°F on February 15, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 12 and the last spring freeze around May 8.
Rainfall is about average for Nebraska. The county gets about 26.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.6 days of an inch or more (53rd of 93). Those downpours cluster in June, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.77 inches on October 13, 2023. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.37 inches (through October 14, 2023).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 114 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
Roughly 74% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Holt near the middle of Nebraska's 93 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 43% 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.
The Census counted 17% of homes as vacant, above the Nebraska county median of 14.2%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Holt County averages 17 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 Holt County it's 42% utility gas, 36% electric, 16% propane and 3% 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 Holt County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Rock gets more pipe-freeze nights than Holt. Boyd County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Holt | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 43% | 49% | 60 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 74% | 73% | 44 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 12% | 49 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.8% | 5% | 36 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 14% | 33 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 19% | 19% | 50 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 72/yr | 64/yr | 17 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.6/yr | 5.1/yr | 53 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 114/yr | 112/yr | 42 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 17/yr | 27/yr | 61 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 Holt County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, 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