Wayne County, New York · Lyons
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Pipes freeze in Wayne County on about 46 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 44% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Wayne County averages 3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Wayne County spike on heavy-rain days, about 3 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 84 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
18% of occupied homes in Wayne County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the New York county median of 19%.
With 21 muggy nights a year, mold in Wayne County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 42,570 homes and around 90,929 residents, Wayne County is 604 square miles of central New York. Besides Lyons, the county seat, the biggest communities are Newark, Gananda and Palmyra. Half the homes here were built before 1968, half after.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Wayne County ranks 55 of 57 New York counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Wayne County ranks highest compared with other New York counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for New York, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 46 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 125 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 46th of 57 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 26 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -13°F on February 15, 2016. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 29 and end around May 1.
Wayne gets fewer downpours than most New York counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 35.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 3 days of an inch or more (57th of 57). Those downpours cluster in June, August and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.41 inches on October 21, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.01 inches, ending October 23, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 84 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
Roughly 65% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Wayne near the middle of New York's 57 counties.
The mix runs from 44% built before 1960 to 12% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
23% 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.
8% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the New York county median of 7.6%. 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.
Beyond water
About 21 nights a year in Wayne County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (11th of 57 counties). October 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 Wayne County it's 54% utility gas, 16% electric, 13% propane and 5% 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 Wayne County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cayuga and Ontario get more pipe-freeze nights than Wayne. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Cayuga County has the oldest housing nearby, with 71% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Wayne | New York median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 44% | 45% | 33 of 57 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 65% | 67% | 35 of 57 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 13% | 36 of 57 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.5% | 7.6% | 30 of 57 |
| Vacant homes | 9.8% | 14% | 38 of 57 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 19% | 31 of 57 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 46/yr | 55/yr | 46 of 57 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3/yr | 6/yr | 57 of 57 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 84/yr | 101/yr | 52 of 57 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 21/yr | 12/yr | 11 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 Wayne County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, August and October.
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