Warren County, New York · Glens Falls
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Pipes freeze in Warren County on about 76 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 38% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Warren County averages 7.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Warren County spike on heavy-rain days, about 7.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Warren County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.47 inches, and about 110 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
18% of occupied homes in Warren County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the New York county median of 19%.
About 4 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
With 40,342 homes and around 65,517 residents, Warren County is 867 square miles of northeast New York. Besides Glens Falls, the county seat, the biggest communities are West Glens Falls, Glens Falls North and Warrensburg. The county's median home was built in 1973.
53/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Warren County ranks 24 of 57 New York counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Warren County ranks highest compared with other New York counties.
Warren is on the colder side of New York for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 76 nights a year at or below 20°F (8th of 57) and 161 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 37 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -22°F on February 4, 2023. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to April, 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 7.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of New York. About 7.6 days a year bring an inch or more (13th of 57), most often in April, out of 45.3 inches of total precipitation. On August 5, 2020, 3.47 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.93 inches (through August 5, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 110 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
59% of homes in Warren County predate 1980, below the New York county median of 66.8%, which ranks 48th of New York's 57 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 38% of homes are pre-1960 and 16% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
25% 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.
With 25% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
About 4 nights a year in Warren County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (49th of 57 counties). August is the wettest month. 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 Warren County it's 44% utility gas, 16% electric, 14% propane and 4% 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 Warren County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Essex and Hamilton get more pipe-freeze nights than Warren. Washington County has the oldest housing nearby, with 64% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Warren | New York median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 38% | 45% | 47 of 57 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 67% | 48 of 57 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 13% | 10 of 57 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.9% | 7.6% | 41 of 57 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 14% | 8 of 57 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 19% | 32 of 57 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 76/yr | 55/yr | 8 of 57 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.6/yr | 6/yr | 13 of 57 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 110/yr | 101/yr | 2 of 57 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 4/yr | 12/yr | 49 of 57 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest New York county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Warren County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in February, April 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