Lincoln County, Wisconsin · Merrill
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Lincoln County averages 96 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 36% of its homes predate 1960.
June brings the most downpours to Lincoln County, part of 5.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
36% 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.
In Lincoln County, 2.89 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
36% of occupied homes in Lincoln County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
With 2 muggy nights a year, mold in Lincoln County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 28,426 people live in Lincoln County, 879 square miles in northern Wisconsin, in roughly 16,327 homes. Merrill is the county seat; Tomahawk is the next largest community. The county's median home was built in 1975.
54/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Lincoln County ranks 29 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lincoln County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
Lincoln is on the colder side of Wisconsin for pipes. It averaged 178 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 96 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 72 Wisconsin counties that's 12th.
The longest cold spell was straight 41 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -29°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 6 and the last spring freeze around May 14.
Lincoln gets fewer downpours than most Wisconsin counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 34.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 5.4 days of an inch or more (55th of 72). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.89 inches on June 12, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.24 inches (through June 18, 2018).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 98 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
Roughly 56% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lincoln near the middle of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
36% 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.
22% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 2 times a year here, below the Wisconsin county median of 11. 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 Lincoln County it's 48% utility gas, 13% electric, 29% propane and 7% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Lincoln County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Oneida and Price get more pipe-freeze nights than Lincoln. Langlade County has the oldest housing nearby, with 60% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lincoln | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 36% | 31% | 23 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 54% | 30 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 21% | 47 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6% | 4.8% | 27 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 12% | 24 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 36% | 33% | 34 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 96/yr | 73/yr | 12 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.4/yr | 6.3/yr | 55 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 98/yr | 94/yr | 15 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 2/yr | 11/yr | 61 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 Lincoln County: freezing from November to April, 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