Pawnee County, Nebraska · Pawnee City
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Pawnee County averages 48 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 58% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7.5 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Pawnee County gets about 7.5 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Pawnee County, 2.83 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
38% of occupied homes in Pawnee County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
With 48 muggy nights a year, mold in Pawnee County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 2,530 people live in Pawnee County, 431 square miles in southeast Nebraska, in roughly 1,409 homes. The county seat is Pawnee City, and Table Rock, Du Bois and Burchard round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1952.
64/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Pawnee County ranks 6 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Pawnee County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Nebraska, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 129 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 48 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 91st.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -24°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 15 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 20 and end around Apr 19.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Nebraska. About 7.5 days a year bring an inch or more (3rd of 93), most often in May, out of 31.7 inches of total precipitation. On June 5, 2015, 2.83 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.85 inches, ending June 5, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 101 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
81% of homes in Pawnee County predate 1980, above the Nebraska county median of 73.1%, which ranks 15th of Nebraska's 93 counties.
58% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
The Census counted 23% 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
Pawnee County averages 48 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 Pawnee County it's 29% utility gas, 31% electric, 29% propane and 10% 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 Pawnee County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Gage and Johnson get more pipe-freeze nights than Pawnee. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Richardson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 85% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Pawnee | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 58% | 49% | 16 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 81% | 73% | 15 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 12% | 46 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.3% | 5% | 39 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 14% | 20 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 38% | 19% | 18 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 48/yr | 64/yr | 91 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.5/yr | 5.1/yr | 3 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 101/yr | 112/yr | 71 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 48/yr | 27/yr | 6 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 Pawnee County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June 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