Climate change can feel like a problem measured in decades, global temperatures and distant projections. For homeowners, however, the more useful questions are much closer to home.
Can increasingly intense rain get into your basement? Can your home stay comfortable during a heat wave? What happens when a storm knocks out electricity for two days? Does your insurance actually cover flooding? And could changing climate risk eventually affect what it costs to insure, finance or sell your property?
For homeowners in Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland, those questions are becoming increasingly relevant.
How is climate change affecting homes?
The Fifth National Climate Assessment, the U.S. government’s major assessment of climate impacts and risks, makes clear that the effects of climate change are already being experienced across the country and that risks increase as the planet warms.
But that doesn’t mean every home faces the same risk, or that climate change means catastrophe is imminent. A house’s vulnerability depends on something much more specific: where it sits, how it was built, how water moves around it, how well it handles temperature extremes and severe weather, and what protections the homeowner has put in place.
Is your home at risk of flooding?
For many homeowners across these five states, water may be the most important place to start.
Heavy rain can create problems far beyond rivers and designated floodplains. When rain falls faster than soil, storm drains or sewer systems can absorb it, water can accumulate in streets, yards and basements.
That distinction matters because homeowners tend to think of flooding in terms of whether their property is “in a flood zone.”
That’s useful information, but it isn’t the entire story.
A house on a low point in a neighborhood may experience drainage problems even though it isn’t next to a river. An older sewer system may become overwhelmed. A basement can take on water through foundation cracks, drains or poorly routed downspouts.
Minnesota provides a particularly useful illustration. The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership reports that the state experienced an average increase of 3.4 inches of annual precipitation between 1895 and 2025. Its largest single rain event increased by 13%, and heavy rainfall events have become more frequent and intense. The organization specifically warns that heavy rainfall can overwhelm stormwater systems and sump pumps.
And that’s not simply a future projection. In July 2026, Minnesota experienced two significant heavy-rain events, including dangerous flash flooding in southeastern Minnesota.
For homeowners, the lesson is straightforward: investigate how water could reach the house, not simply whether the house sits inside a mapped floodplain.
Look at whether the property slopes toward or away from the foundation. Check gutters and downspouts, basement walls and floor drains. Ask whether the sump pump has ever struggled during heavy rainfall and whether it has backup power. Find out if the street or yard has flooded before.
What does extreme heat mean for homeowners
Flooding is easier to visualize than heat damage, but increasing temperatures can also affect the safety, comfort and operating costs of a house.
The most vulnerable homes aren’t necessarily where temperatures are highest on a weather map.
An older house with insufficient insulation, an unshaded west-facing wall or ineffective air conditioning can become uncomfortable much faster than a well-insulated house nearby. Upper floors and neighborhoods with limited tree cover can be especially challenging.
The National Climate Assessment identifies extreme heat as an increasingly important climate risk, while its interactive atlas provides localized information on extreme heat and other hazards across the country.
Minnesota demonstrates why people in historically cold climates shouldn’t dismiss the issue. In Northeast Minnesota, average annual temperatures increased 3.5°F from 1895 through 2023, according to the University of Minnesota. Winter temperatures changed even more, increasing 5.4°F on average.
For homeowners, resilience to heat can involve relatively ordinary building features: insulation, shading, effective cooling and the ability to keep indoor temperatures manageable if electricity is interrupted. For practical ideas, see our tips for lowering home energy use during hot summer weather.
That last point is critical. Heat risk and outage risk can compound one another.
What should coastal homeowners in New York, Massachusetts and Maryland know?
For homeowners in coastal portions of New York, Massachusetts and Maryland, climate risk has another dimension: rising sea levels.
Higher baseline water levels can make tides and storm surge more consequential. Coastal flooding may also interact with erosion, waves and heavy rainfall.
Again, location matters enormously.
A coastal homeowner should understand not only the elevation of the house, but also the condition of nearby dunes, bluffs or shoreline defenses, the elevation of access roads, historical flooding and where electrical and HVAC equipment is located.
And coastal residents shouldn’t think exclusively about hurricanes. Nor’easters and other coastal storms can bring combinations of rain, wind, waves, surge and power loss.
The question isn’t simply,“Will there be more storms?” It is also,“If a storm occurs, what can reach my house from the starting water level we have today?”
What climate risks should Minnesota and Illinois homeowners consider?
Minnesota and Illinois don’t face sea-level rise, but that doesn’t make climate risk less relevant.
The University of Minnesota’s homeowner climate toolkit focuses on five principal threats in the state: flooding, wildfire, extreme heat, wind and hail, and snow and ice.
Minnesota also illustrates a climate pattern that can seem contradictory. A warmer, wetter long-term climate doesn’t mean every month will be wet. In August 2026, most Minnesota locations recorded below-normal precipitation even though a handful received very large amounts.
That variability matters.
Homeowners can encounter intense rainfall and drainage problems while still experiencing periods of drought or vegetation stress. Severe thunderstorms can introduce wind and hail exposure. And winter risk doesn’t disappear just because average temperatures rise.
The practical implication for homeowners in Minnesota and Illinois is to avoid preparing for only one version of future weather. A resilient home needs to deal with both water and heat, while still being prepared for severe storms and winter conditions.
A warmer winter doesn’t necessarily mean an easier winter
It’s tempting to interpret warming winters as less snow, ice and cold to worry about.
The reality is more complicated.
Warmer average conditions don’t eliminate short periods of extreme cold, heavy snow or ice. Transitions around the freezing point can themselves create difficult conditions, including freeze-thaw damage and icing.
NOAA’s October 15 outlook for December 2026 through February 2027, for example, favors warmer-than-average conditions across the Midwest and much of the East. Wetter-than-average conditions are most likely along the East Coast, while NOAA indicates drier-than-average conditions are favored in some Great Lakes areas.
Those are seasonal probabilities, not forecasts of particular storms.
So a homeowner shouldn’t interpret “warmer winter” as “no major snowstorm,” or “wetter winter” as “my basement will flood.”
Think of seasonal forecasts as background conditions, not predictions for your address.
How does climate change affect home insurance?
One of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make is assuming that all weather-related damage is covered by a standard homeowners policy.
Climate risk therefore isn’t purely about physical exposure. It’s also about financial resilience.
Before buying or renewing coverage, homeowners should specifically ask about flood coverage, sewer and drain backup, wind and hail deductibles, replacement-cost provisions and coverage for temporary living expenses.
Even homeowners outside higher-risk mapped flood zones should consider investigating flood coverage. The University of Minnesota’s homeowner guidance explicitly recommends evaluating flood-insurance options even when a property is not in a historic flood zone.
The important point isn’t that every homeowner needs every form of insurance. It’s that you should know which loss pathways you’re retaining yourself.
A climate-risk score on a real estate website can’t answer that question for you.
Seven questions to ask about your own home to assess climate risk
Instead of trying to determine whether your house is “climate safe,” work through the property systematically.
1. Where can water come from?
Look beyond nearby rivers. Consider street drainage, slopes, storm drains, sewer backup, groundwater, downspouts and low spots around the foundation.
2. What has happened here before?
Ask about previous basement water, drainage problems, roof damage and storm losses. Look for physical clues such as old water marks, foundation staining or repeatedly repaired areas.
3. What happens during heavy rain?
Inspect gutters, downspouts, grading, foundation drainage and sump pumps. A relatively small failure in this system can sometimes turn intense rainfall into an expensive basement problem.
4. Can the house handle extreme heat?
Consider insulation, shade, air conditioning and the hottest rooms in the home. Think about what indoor conditions would be like during an extended power outage.
5. How storm-ready is the property?
Look at the age and condition of the roof, flashing, nearby trees and exterior components vulnerable to wind or hail.
6. What happens when electricity fails?
Would you lose cooling or heat? Does a sump pump stop? If you’re on a private well, does the water supply depend on electricity? Home resilience often depends on these second-order consequences.
7. What isn’t covered by insurance?
Don’t assume. Ask the insurer or agent for written explanations of exclusions, deductibles and optional coverage.
Don’t rely on one map or one score
Homeowners now have access to an expanding collection of climate-risk models and mapping tools. They can be extremely useful, but they shouldn’t be mistaken for a property inspection.
The National Climate Assessment’s Interactive Atlas, for example, provides access to climate maps and downscaled projections across the United States. Minnesota homeowners can go even more local: MN CliMAT provides projections at approximately a 4-kilometer, or 2.5-mile, scale using the latest generation of global climate models.
Use these resources alongside FEMA flood information, state and municipal maps and what you can learn about the home’s history and construction.
A model can tell you something about the hazard. The house itself tells you a lot about the potential loss.
The goal isn’t to predict the future. It’s to make the home harder to damage.
Perhaps the most useful way for homeowners to think about climate risk is to stop asking:
“Will climate change damage my house?”
No credible model can answer that question with certainty for one home.
Instead ask:
What hazards can reach this property? Where is the house vulnerable? What would the insurance cover? And what relatively inexpensive improvement could interrupt the path from weather event to property damage?
In one house, the answer might be improving grading and extending downspouts. In another, it could mean adding sump-pump backup power. Elsewhere it might be better insulation and cooling, roof maintenance, tree management or moving expensive equipment and belongings out of a flood-prone basement.
Improving efficiency can make a home better prepared for heat and extreme weather, while options such as community solar can give households another way to support locally generated clean energy without installing panels on their property.
Climate risk isn’t uniform across Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts or Maryland. A house outside Rochester, Minnesota doesn’t face the same hazards as one on Long Island or Cape Cod.
But homeowners across all five states can apply the same principle:
Don’t try to predict the next disaster. Understand your home’s weak points and reduce the consequences when extreme weather arrives.
That is a much more useful definition of climate resilience.
Resources for Homeowners
Want to understand the climate risks that could affect your property? These federal resources are a good place to start.
- FEMA Flood Maps – Check your property’s relationship to mapped flood-hazard areas. FEMA notes that flooding can occur away from bodies of water because of heavy rain, poor drainage and other factors, and that there is no completely “no-risk” flood zone. Explore FEMA Flood Maps [fema.gov]
- Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) – Explore how exposure to hazards such as extreme temperature, drought, wildfire, inland flooding and coastal inundation could change over the coming decades. Explore the CMRA Assessment Tool [resilience…limate.gov]
- NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer – Particularly useful for homeowners in coastal New York, Massachusetts and Maryland. The tool maps community-level coastal flooding and sea-level-rise scenarios and includes information such as water depth, flood frequency and mapping confidence. Explore NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer [coast.noaa.gov]
- NOAA Sea Level and Coastal Flooding Resources – Includes the Sea Level Calculator, coastal flooding information, high-tide flooding outlooks and additional planning resources. Explore NOAA Sea Level Rise Resources
