Calumet County, Wisconsin · Chilton
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Pipes freeze in Calumet County on about 65 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 22% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7.2 times a year here, most often in August. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Calumet County gets about 7.2 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 90 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
12% of occupied homes in Calumet County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
About 14 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
About 52,942 people live in Calumet County, 318 square miles in eastern Wisconsin, in roughly 22,493 homes. Chilton is the county seat; Harrison, Brillion and Sherwood are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1987.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Calumet County ranks 61 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Calumet County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
For frozen pipes, Calumet County is a typical Wisconsin county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 65 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 146 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 47th of 72 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 27 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -25°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from November to April, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 19 and the last spring freeze around May 7.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Wisconsin. About 7.2 days a year bring an inch or more (23rd of 72), most often in August, out of 37.5 inches of total precipitation. On October 23, 2020, 3.82 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.38 inches (through August 29, 2018).
About 90 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 44% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Calumet among the newer housing stocks of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
33% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Wisconsin. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
23% 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
Calumet County averages 14 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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 Calumet County it's 71% utility gas, 13% electric, 10% propane and 2% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Calumet County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Outagamie gets more pipe-freeze nights than Calumet. Manitowoc County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Calumet | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 22% | 31% | 64 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 54% | 68 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 33% | 21% | 2 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.7% | 4.8% | 64 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 5% | 12% | 61 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 12% | 33% | 58 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 65/yr | 73/yr | 47 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.2/yr | 6.3/yr | 23 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 90/yr | 94/yr | 59 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 14/yr | 11/yr | 28 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 Calumet 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