Loup County, Nebraska · Taylor
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Loup County averages 71 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 30% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Loup County, part of 4.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Loup County gets about 4.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Loup County, 2.9 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
62% of occupied homes in Loup County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
About 11 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
Loup County covers 563 square miles of central Nebraska, with about 578 residents and 435 homes. Taylor is the county seat. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Loup County ranks 84 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Loup County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Loup County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Nebraska. It averaged 159 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 71 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 19th.
The longest cold spell was straight 22 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2019. The coldest night reached about -30°F on February 15, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 11 and end around May 7.
Rainfall is about average for Nebraska. Of roughly 25.2 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 4.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 58th of 93. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.9 inches, August 16, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.57 inches, ending October 3, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 124 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
Roughly 45% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Loup among the newer housing stocks of Nebraska's 93 counties.
29% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Nebraska. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
26% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
18% 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.
The Census counted 44% 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 11 nights a year in Loup County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (66th 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Loup County homes break down as 8% utility gas, 28% electric, 51% propane and 11% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Loup County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Blaine, Brown, Holt and Rock get more pipe-freeze nights than Loup. Brown County has the oldest housing nearby, with 78% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Loup | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 30% | 49% | 89 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 73% | 92 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 29% | 12% | 3 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 5% | 5 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 44% | 14% | 1 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 62% | 19% | 10 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 71/yr | 64/yr | 19 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.3/yr | 5.1/yr | 58 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 124/yr | 112/yr | 30 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 11/yr | 27/yr | 66 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 Loup County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, 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