Crawford County, Pennsylvania · Meadville
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With 44% of homes built before 1960 and about 44 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Crawford County, part of 5.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
44% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
Crawford County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.26 inches, and about 95 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
25% of occupied homes in Crawford County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Pennsylvania county median of 10%.
With 12 muggy nights a year, mold in Crawford County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 82,716 people live in Crawford County, 1,012 square miles in northwest Pennsylvania, in roughly 42,157 homes. The county seat is Meadville, and Titusville, Pymatuning Central and Cambridge Springs round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1966, half after.
43/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Crawford County ranks 47 of 67 Pennsylvania counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Crawford County ranks highest compared with other Pennsylvania counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Crawford County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 44 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 130 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 25th of 67 counties.
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 -22°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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 23 and end around May 8.
Crawford gets fewer downpours than most Pennsylvania counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 46.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 5.2 days of an inch or more (64th of 67). Those downpours cluster in June, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.26 inches on November 12, 2022. The worst three-day stretch dropped 2.66 inches, ending October 22, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 95 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
70% of homes in Crawford County predate 1980, close to the Pennsylvania county median of 66%, which ranks 25th of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.
The mix runs from 44% built before 1960 to 11% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
12% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Pennsylvania county median of 6.6%. 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.
The Census counted 20% of homes as vacant, above the Pennsylvania county median of 11.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 12 nights a year in Crawford County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (43rd of 67 counties). June 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 expectMain heating fuel in Crawford County's occupied homes: 47% utility gas, 13% electric, 17% propane and 9% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Crawford County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Warren gets more pipe-freeze nights than Crawford. Warren County has the oldest housing nearby, with 76% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Crawford | Pennsylvania median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 44% | 42% | 26 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 70% | 66% | 25 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 11% | 13% | 47 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 6.6% | 8 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 20% | 12% | 16 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 10% | 9 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 44/yr | 37/yr | 25 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.2/yr | 7/yr | 64 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 95/yr | 98/yr | 43 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 12/yr | 16/yr | 43 of 67 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Pennsylvania county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Crawford 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