Trempealeau County, Wisconsin · Whitehall
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Pipes freeze in Trempealeau County on about 73 nights a year, mostly November to April. Older homes, 33% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Trempealeau County averages 8.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Trempealeau County gets about 8.4 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 91 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
29% of occupied homes in Trempealeau County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
With 18 muggy nights a year, mold in Trempealeau County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Trempealeau County covers 733 square miles of western Wisconsin, with about 30,839 residents and 13,431 homes. Besides Whitehall, the county seat, the biggest communities are Arcadia, Trempealeau and Galesville. The county's median home was built in 1977.
66/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Trempealeau County ranks 6 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Trempealeau County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
For frozen pipes, Trempealeau County is a typical Wisconsin county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 73 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 152 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 36th of 72 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 24 days below freezing (ending February 2019), and the low bottomed out near -34°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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 19 and the last spring freeze around May 2.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Wisconsin. The county gets about 38.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.4 days of an inch or more (9th of 72). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.42 inches on July 20, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.33 inches (through September 22, 2016).
About 91 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
54% of homes in Trempealeau County predate 1980, close to the Wisconsin county median of 54.1%, which ranks 37th of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 33% of homes are pre-1960 and 23% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 23% 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
Trempealeau County averages 18 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 Trempealeau County it's 50% utility gas, 15% electric, 23% propane and 7% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Trempealeau County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Eau Claire and Jackson get more pipe-freeze nights than Trempealeau. Buffalo County has the oldest housing nearby, with 65% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Trempealeau | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 33% | 31% | 32 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 54% | 37 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 23% | 21% | 25 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.7% | 4.8% | 28 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 6.7% | 12% | 51 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 29% | 33% | 41 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 73/yr | 73/yr | 36 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.4/yr | 6.3/yr | 9 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 91/yr | 94/yr | 56 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 18/yr | 11/yr | 14 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 Trempealeau 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