Williams County, Ohio · Bryan
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With 43% of homes built before 1960 and about 37 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Williams County, part of 5.5 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Williams County gets about 5.5 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Williams County, 2.17 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
19% of occupied homes in Williams County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
With 26 muggy nights a year, mold in Williams County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Williams County covers 421 square miles of northwest Ohio, with about 36,719 residents and 16,564 homes. The county seat is Bryan, and Montpelier, Edgerton and West Unity round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1966, half after.
64/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Williams County ranks 11 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Williams County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Williams County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Ohio. It averaged 120 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 37 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 3rd.
The longest cold spell was straight 19 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -17°F on January 31, 2019. 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 26 and end around Apr 26.
Rainfall is about average for Ohio. Of roughly 36.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.5 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 51st of 88. May, June and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.17 inches, October 25, 2021. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.85 inches, ending September 24, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 86 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
Roughly 69% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Williams among the oldest housing stocks of Ohio's 88 counties.
In Williams County 43% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Here 8% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
About 26 nights a year in Williams County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (75th of 88 counties). May is the wettest month. 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, Williams County homes break down as 54% utility gas, 24% electric, 16% propane and 3% wood. Propane 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 Williams County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Williams gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Henry County has the oldest housing nearby, with 70% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Williams | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 43% | 37% | 22 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 69% | 61% | 23 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 11% | 17% | 73 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.5% | 5.9% | 31 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 6.6% | 8.4% | 64 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 19% | 16% | 36 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 37/yr | 31/yr | 3 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.5/yr | 5.7/yr | 51 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 86/yr | 82/yr | 20 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 26/yr | 35/yr | 75 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 Williams County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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