Dale County, Alabama · Ozark
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Dale County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 13% of its homes predate 1960.
December brings the most downpours to Dale County, part of 14.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Dale County gets about 14.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Dale County, 8.09 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
3% of occupied homes in Dale County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
About 135 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
About 49,599 people live in Dale County, 561 square miles in southeast Alabama, in roughly 22,968 homes. The county seat is Ozark, and Daleville, Fort Rucker and Level Plains round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1983, half after.
30/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Dale County ranks 64 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Dale County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Alabama, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 1 night a year at or below 20°F (55th of 67) and 20 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 20 nights a year at or below 32°F, and that's exactly why they do damage: pipes in attics, exterior walls and slab-edge plumbing are rarely insulated. The coldest night in the record was about 15°F on January 8, 2015.
Dale gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 57.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 14.3 days of an inch or more (52nd of 67). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 8.09 inches on September 17, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 11.38 inches, ending September 17, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 20 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Roughly 45% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Dale near the middle of Alabama's 67 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 13% 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.
32% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
20% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Alabama county median of 21.7%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Renters occupy 38% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Dale County averages 135 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in December. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Dale County's occupied homes: 8% utility gas, 88% electric, 3% propane and under 1% 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 Dale County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pike gets more pipe-freeze nights than Dale. Geneva County has the oldest housing nearby, with 52% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Dale | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 13% | 16% | 50 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 44% | 28 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 23% | 23% | 34 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 20% | 22% | 41 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 16% | 41 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.1% | 9.9% | 61 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 55 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 15/yr | 52 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 20/yr | 38/yr | 62 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 135/yr | 112/yr | 7 of 67 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Alabama county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Dale County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, April and December.
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