Warren County, Ohio · Lebanon
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Pipes freeze in Warren County on about 25 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 14% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in March. 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 3.12 inches, and about 77 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
6% of occupied homes in Warren County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
About 50 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 96,061 homes and around 250,008 residents, Warren County is 401 square miles of southwest Ohio. Besides Lebanon, the county seat, the biggest communities are Mason, Springboro and Franklin. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1995.
40/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Warren County ranks 68 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Warren County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Warren County is milder than most of Ohio, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 25 nights a year at or below 20°F (80th of 88) and 94 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -8°F on January 3, 2018. 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 3 and the last spring freeze around Apr 15.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Ohio. About 7.6 days a year bring an inch or more (8th of 88), most often in March, out of 45.3 inches of total precipitation. On June 19, 2021, 3.12 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.09 inches (through May 20, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 77 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
31% of homes in Warren County predate 1980, below the Ohio county median of 61.1%, which ranks 87th of Ohio's 88 counties.
39% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Ohio. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
29% 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.
Beyond water
About 50 nights a year in Warren County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (2nd of 88 counties). June 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 53% utility gas, 37% electric, 5% propane and under 1% 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
Butler, Clinton, Greene and Montgomery get more pipe-freeze nights than Warren. Montgomery County has the oldest housing nearby, with 74% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Warren | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 37% | 87 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 31% | 61% | 87 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 39% | 17% | 3 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1% | 5.9% | 82 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 4.2% | 8.4% | 84 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6% | 16% | 73 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 25/yr | 31/yr | 80 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.6/yr | 5.7/yr | 8 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 77/yr | 82/yr | 71 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 50/yr | 35/yr | 2 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 Warren County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in February, March 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