Nuckolls County, Nebraska · Nelson
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With 63% of homes built before 1960 and about 51 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Nuckolls County, part of 5.6 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Nuckolls County spike on heavy-rain days, about 5.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Nuckolls County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.06 inches, and about 109 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
20% of occupied homes in Nuckolls County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 38 times a year in Nuckolls County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 2,220 homes and around 4,087 residents, Nuckolls County is 575 square miles of southeast Nebraska. The county seat is Nelson, and Superior, Lawrence and Ruskin round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1948.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Nuckolls County ranks 13 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Nuckolls County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Nuckolls County is milder than most of Nebraska, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 136 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 51 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 81st.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -24°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. 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 22 and the last spring freeze around Apr 24.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Nebraska. The county gets about 27.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 5.6 days of an inch or more (25th of 93). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.06 inches on May 7, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.71 inches (through June 6, 2015).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 109 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
80% of homes in Nuckolls County predate 1980, above the Nebraska county median of 73.1%, which ranks 19th of Nebraska's 93 counties.
In Nuckolls County 63% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 38 times a year here, above the Nebraska county median of 27. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Nuckolls County homes break down as 48% utility gas, 30% electric, 15% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is 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 Nuckolls County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Fillmore and Webster get more pipe-freeze nights than Nuckolls. Webster County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Nuckolls | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 63% | 49% | 4 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 80% | 73% | 19 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 6.8% | 12% | 81 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.8% | 5% | 81 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 14% | 49 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 20% | 19% | 46 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 51/yr | 64/yr | 81 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.6/yr | 5.1/yr | 25 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 109/yr | 112/yr | 52 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 38/yr | 27/yr | 17 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 Nuckolls County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June 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