St. Croix County, Wisconsin · Hudson
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Pipes freeze in St. Croix County on about 83 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 17% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. St. Croix County averages 5.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which St. Croix County gets about 5.8 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 88 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
18% of occupied homes in St. Croix County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
About 13 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
With 38,953 homes and around 96,033 residents, St. Croix County is 722 square miles of western Wisconsin. The county seat is Hudson, and River Falls, New Richmond and Baldwin round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1993.
40/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate St. Croix County ranks 60 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where St. Croix County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
St. Croix is on the colder side of Wisconsin for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 83 nights a year at or below 20°F (22nd of 72) and 158 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 32 days below freezing (ending March 2019), and the low bottomed out near -32°F on January 31, 2019.
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 17 and the last spring freeze around May 3.
Rainfall is about average for Wisconsin. Of roughly 34.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 45th of 72. May, July and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.78 inches, June 29, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.38 inches (through June 30, 2020).
About 88 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
33% of homes in St. Croix County predate 1980, below the Wisconsin county median of 54.1%, which ranks 72nd of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 40% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 27% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 13 times a year here, above 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 expectMain heating fuel in St. Croix County's occupied homes: 63% utility gas, 17% electric, 15% 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 St. Croix County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Polk gets more pipe-freeze nights than St. Croix. Pierce County has the oldest housing nearby, with 50% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | St. Croix | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 31% | 70 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 33% | 54% | 72 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 40% | 21% | 1 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.8% | 4.8% | 54 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 3.7% | 12% | 70 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 33% | 53 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 83/yr | 73/yr | 22 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.8/yr | 6.3/yr | 45 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 94/yr | 68 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 13/yr | 11/yr | 30 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 St. Croix County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, July and August.
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