Winston County, Alabama · Double Springs
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Pipes freeze in Winston County on about 6 nights a year, mostly December to January. Older homes, 11% of the stock here, are most at risk.
February brings the most downpours to Winston County, part of 17.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
11% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
Winston County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.02 inches, and about 54 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
19% of occupied homes in Winston County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
About 90 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
Winston County covers 613 square miles of northwest Alabama, with about 23,682 residents and 13,160 homes. The county seat is Double Springs, and Haleyville, Lynn and Addison round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1988.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Winston County ranks 19 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Winston County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Winston County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Alabama. It averaged 56 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 6 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 67 Alabama counties that's 4th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 3 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near 4°F on January 8, 2015.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to January. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 8 and end around Mar 23.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Alabama. About 17.8 days a year bring an inch or more (3rd of 67), most often in February, out of 62.7 inches of total precipitation. On October 26, 2019, 4.02 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.39 inches, ending September 15, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 54 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
Roughly 40% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Winston among the newer housing stocks of Alabama's 67 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 11% of homes are pre-1960 and 26% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 34% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Here 30% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
28% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 90 times a year here, below the Alabama county median of 112. 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 Winston County's occupied homes: 14% utility gas, 66% electric, 15% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Alabama counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Winston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Franklin gets more pipe-freeze nights than Winston. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Marion County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Winston | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 11% | 16% | 56 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 40% | 44% | 52 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 23% | 22 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 30% | 22% | 10 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 28% | 16% | 4 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 19% | 9.9% | 10 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 3/yr | 4 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 15/yr | 3 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 54/yr | 38/yr | 4 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 90/yr | 112/yr | 58 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 Winston County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in February, March 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