Menominee County, Wisconsin · Keshena
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Pipes freeze in Menominee County on about 82 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 10% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Menominee County averages 6.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Menominee County spike on heavy-rain days, about 6.2 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Menominee County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.52 inches, and about 103 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
92% of occupied homes in Menominee County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 5 times a year in Menominee County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Menominee County covers 358 square miles of eastern Wisconsin, with about 4,252 residents and 2,186 homes. Keshena is the county seat; Legend Lake, Neopit and Middle Village are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
35/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Menominee County ranks 67 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Menominee County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
Menominee is on the colder side of Wisconsin for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 82 nights a year at or below 20°F (24th of 72) and 170 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 25 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2015. The coldest night reached about -26°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to April, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 10 and the last spring freeze around May 11.
Rainfall is about average for Wisconsin. Of roughly 35.9 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 39th of 72. May, June and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.52 inches, June 18, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.35 inches (through June 18, 2018).
About 103 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 37% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Menominee among the newer housing stocks of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 10% predate 1960 and 17% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 46% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 8% 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.
36% 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 5 times a year here, below the Wisconsin county median of 11. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Menominee County it's 2% utility gas, 3% electric, 77% propane and 15% 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 Menominee County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Langlade gets more pipe-freeze nights than Menominee. Langlade County has the oldest housing nearby, with 60% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Menominee | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 10% | 31% | 72 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 54% | 71 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 21% | 64 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8% | 4.8% | 17 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 36% | 12% | 13 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 92% | 33% | 1 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 82/yr | 73/yr | 24 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.2/yr | 6.3/yr | 39 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 103/yr | 94/yr | 5 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 5/yr | 11/yr | 52 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 Menominee County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, June 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