Keith County, Nebraska · Ogallala
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Keith County averages 61 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 32% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Keith County, part of 1.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
32% 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 Keith County, 2.44 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 Keith County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 10 times a year in Keith County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Keith County covers 1,062 square miles of western Nebraska, with about 8,219 residents and 5,435 homes. Besides Ogallala, the county seat, the biggest communities are Paxton, Brule and Belmar. The county's median home was built in 1973.
21/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Lower Keith County ranks 93 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Keith County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
For frozen pipes, Keith County is a typical Nebraska county, which is still plenty. It averaged 153 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 61 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 55th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 21 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -24°F on February 15, 2021.
The freeze season here runs November to March, 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 14 and the last spring freeze around May 1.
Keith gets fewer downpours than most Nebraska counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 18.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 1.8 days of an inch or more (82nd of 93). Those downpours cluster in April, May and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.44 inches on August 20, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.05 inches (through April 18, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 125 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 69% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Keith near the middle of Nebraska's 93 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 32% predate 1960 and 14% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
Here 19% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
The Census counted 26% 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
About 10 nights a year in Keith County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (69th of 93 counties). May is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Keith County it's 37% utility gas, 46% electric, 16% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Keith County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Every neighboring county gets more pipe-freeze nights than Keith. Deuel County has the oldest housing nearby, with 89% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Keith | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 32% | 49% | 86 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 69% | 73% | 57 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 14% | 12% | 37 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 5% | 3 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 26% | 14% | 16 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 17% | 19% | 62 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 61/yr | 64/yr | 55 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 1.8/yr | 5.1/yr | 82 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 125/yr | 112/yr | 29 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 Keith County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, May 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