Adams County, Wisconsin · Friendship
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Pipes freeze in Adams County on about 72 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 14% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Adams County averages 8.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
14% 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.
Adams County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.51 inches, and about 102 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
61% of occupied homes in Adams County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
With 10 muggy nights a year, mold in Adams County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 17,008 homes and around 21,123 residents, Adams County is 646 square miles of central Wisconsin. Friendship is the county seat; Adams, Lake Camelot and Lake Arrowhead are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1984, half after.
43/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Adams County ranks 52 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Adams County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Adams County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 72 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 158 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 38th of 72 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 18 days below freezing (ending January 2016), and the low bottomed out near -31°F on January 31, 2019.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to April. 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 13 and end around May 8.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Wisconsin. About 8.4 days a year bring an inch or more (9th of 72), most often in August, out of 38.1 inches of total precipitation. On September 22, 2016, 3.51 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.91 inches, ending August 29, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 102 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
44% of homes in Adams County predate 1980, below the Wisconsin county median of 54.1%, which ranks 67th of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 14% of homes are pre-1960 and 25% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
31% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 18% 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.
With 44% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
About 10 nights a year in Adams County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (39th of 72 counties). August 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Adams County it's 28% utility gas, 10% electric, 54% propane and 7% wood. Propane heat is above the Wisconsin norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Adams County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Juneau, Portage and Wood get more pipe-freeze nights than Adams. Wood County has the oldest housing nearby, with 64% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Adams | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 31% | 71 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 54% | 67 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 21% | 16 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 4.8% | 2 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 44% | 12% | 8 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 61% | 33% | 5 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 72/yr | 73/yr | 38 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.4/yr | 6.3/yr | 9 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 102/yr | 94/yr | 8 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 10/yr | 11/yr | 39 of 72 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Wisconsin county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Adams County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, 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