Ashtabula County, Ohio · Jefferson
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Ashtabula County averages 36 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 48% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Ashtabula County averages 4.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Ashtabula County gets about 4.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 87 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
11% of occupied homes in Ashtabula County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
About 23 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
Ashtabula County covers 702 square miles of northeast Ohio, with about 97,167 residents and 46,477 homes. Jefferson is the county seat; Ashtabula, Conneaut and Geneva are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1962.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Ashtabula County ranks 20 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Ashtabula County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Ashtabula is on the colder side of Ohio for pipes. It averaged 117 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 36 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 88 Ohio counties that's 7th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 19 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -24°F on February 20, 2015.
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 31 and the last spring freeze around May 5.
Ashtabula gets fewer downpours than most Ohio counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 41.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.3 days of an inch or more (71st of 88). Those downpours cluster in June, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 1.83 inches on September 10, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 2.6 inches (through June 1, 2015).
About 87 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
Ohio's 88 counties range widely in housing age; Ashtabula ranks 15th, with 72% of its homes built before 1980.
Before 1960 is when 48% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 8% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
16% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Ashtabula County averages 23 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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, Ashtabula County homes break down as 60% utility gas, 20% electric, 6% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is 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 Ashtabula County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Geauga and Trumbull get more pipe-freeze nights than Ashtabula. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Trumbull County has the oldest housing nearby, with 77% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Ashtabula | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 48% | 37% | 8 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 72% | 61% | 15 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 17% | 68 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.1% | 5.9% | 30 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 8.4% | 10 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 16% | 58 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 36/yr | 31/yr | 7 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.3/yr | 5.7/yr | 71 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 87/yr | 82/yr | 15 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 23/yr | 35/yr | 83 of 88 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Ohio county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Ashtabula County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, August and September.
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