Nowata County, Oklahoma · Nowata
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Nowata County averages 17 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 33% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Nowata County, part of 10.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Nowata County gets about 10.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Nowata County, 4.8 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
15% of occupied homes in Nowata County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Oklahoma county median of 12.5%.
With 89 muggy nights a year, mold in Nowata County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Nowata County covers 566 square miles of northeast Oklahoma, with about 9,435 residents and 4,362 homes. Nowata is the county seat; South Coffeyville, Delaware and Lenapah are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1977, half after.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Nowata County ranks 10 of 77 Oklahoma counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Nowata County ranks highest compared with other Oklahoma counties.
Nowata County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Oklahoma. From 2015–2024 it averaged 17 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 80 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 19th of 77 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 12 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -13°F on February 17, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to February. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 2 and end around Apr 1.
Rainfall is about average for Oklahoma. The county gets about 41 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.4 days of an inch or more (42nd of 77). Those downpours cluster in May, June and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.8 inches on May 21, 2019. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.56 inches, ending May 23, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 72 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
Oklahoma's 77 counties range widely in housing age; Nowata ranks 36th, with 55% of its homes built before 1980.
33% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
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.
Here 16% 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
Nowata County averages 89 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Nowata County homes break down as 39% utility gas, 35% electric, 11% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Oklahoma counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Nowata County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Washington gets more pipe-freeze nights than Nowata. Washington County has the oldest housing nearby, with 65% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Nowata | Oklahoma median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 33% | 24% | 21 of 77 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 55% | 55% | 36 of 77 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 22% | 45 of 77 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 12% | 20 of 77 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 17% | 48 of 77 |
| Wood or propane heat | 15% | 13% | 31 of 77 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 17/yr | 13/yr | 19 of 77 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 11/yr | 42 of 77 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 72/yr | 65/yr | 20 of 77 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 89/yr | 98/yr | 56 of 77 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Oklahoma county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Nowata County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in May, June 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