Tobacco storage in basement

Cool, dark and dry are the conditions you want to store tobacco.

If your basement is too damp, you risk rusting your lids / tins.

As long as the jars are air tight you should be OK. Pipe tobacco requires a humidity level well below that of cigars. 15-18% for pipe tobacco versus 72% for cigars.

That's where I store my tobacco. My basement stays relatively cool during the summer and down right frigid in the winter. You stated that the tobacco is stored in Mason jars so there is no issue whatsoever with humidity. Tins on the other hand might present a problem and I keep my unopened tins in my office. My basement is quite humid during the summer months and I've had Mason jars there for well over 30 years and not one single sign of rust on the lids.

I think I'd opt for a drier area of the house, if there is that option. True, the sealed jars keep out the humidity, mostly.

But you may have some unsealed tins, pouches, bags of bulk that haven't been jarred yet, and other pipe gear that won't

be helped by somewhat higher humidity. You can do it if you only keep the sealed jars down there, but all of the other

pipe and tobacco gear has to go to higher ground.

I have a dehumidifier in my basement. No "sweating" cold-water pipes on humid days, no mold or mildew. It's digital, so I can set it to a specific relative humidity level. I have another hygrometer(?) that I use as a double-check. Seems to work great.

This is a good question. My basement is also damp and cool. I have held off because I just imagine how the tobacco might be affected over a long (many years) period of time.
I know in theory if they are sealed, they should be fine. But part of me questions that. I do not want to open a mason jar 10 years from now and find out that somehow the humidity affected the tobacco.
So for now, I keep them upstairs taking up my valuable closet space. ::

One of the benefits of Colorado, my basement is always cool and dry. I keep all my stuff in a stand alone cabinet. Sucks for cigars though, keeping the humidor humid is a little bit more laborious. Luckily I just recharge the Boveda packs.

My house is on a slab so I had to convert a closet for my cellar. I keep the temp at 69 degrees but the humidity does vary but no option for me except to buy a different house.

This is a good question. My basement is also damp and cool. I have held off because I just imagine how the tobacco might be affected over a long (many years) period of time.
I know in theory if they are sealed, they should be fine. But part of me questions that. I do not want to open a mason jar 10 years from now and find out that somehow the humidity affected the tobacco.
So for now, I keep them upstairs taking up my valuable closet space.

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Mason jars are airtight and I seriously doubt that there would be any issue for humidity entering the jar. Hell, I would venture to say that you could let the jars float in a tub of water for a good length of time and no water would ever enter the jar.
The metal lids are designed to provide a seal if heated to the point where the rubber softens, and then only until the jar is first opened. In practice, though, metal lids will also usually provide a seal even if not heat processed and even after multiple uses, as long as you tighten the ring down hard enough and the jar isn't pressurized. That’s the whole point of their application in canning. It wouldn't make much sense to store canned food in a non-airtight container! However, if you’re still concerned about any type of degradation to the two part lid as in rust you could always opt for the plastic lids which would obviously negate any concerns as it pertains to rusting. I’ve not yet tried them, but I just might possibly give them a tryout for nothing more than simple curiosity. That, and aside from the fact that they would be easier to use rather than messing about with the two part lid and screw on ring every time I need to open a jar and reseal it.