Clark County, Arkansas · Arkadelphia
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 5 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 18.6 times a year here, most often in April. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
16% 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.
In Clark County, 4.23 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Clark County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Arkansas county median of 10.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 108 times a year in Clark County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 21,125 people live in Clark County, 866 square miles in southwest Arkansas, in roughly 10,029 homes. The county seat is Arkadelphia, and Gurdon, Caddo Valley and Amity round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Clark County ranks 22 of 75 Arkansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clark County ranks highest compared with other Arkansas counties.
For frozen pipes, Clark County is a typical Arkansas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 52 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 5 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 75 Arkansas counties that's 44th.
The longest cold spell was straight 4 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -1°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs December to January, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 11 and the last spring freeze around Mar 17.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Arkansas. The county gets about 60 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 18.6 days of an inch or more (11th of 75). Those downpours cluster in March, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.23 inches on April 30, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.2 inches (through February 23, 2018).
About 50 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 41% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Clark among the newer housing stocks of Arkansas's 75 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 16% predate 1960 and 26% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 33% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 15% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Renters occupy 35% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 108 times a year here, close to the Arkansas county median of 105. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Clark County's occupied homes: 29% utility gas, 60% electric, 6% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Clark County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Montgomery and Pike get more pipe-freeze nights than Clark. Ouachita County has the oldest housing nearby, with 62% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clark | Arkansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 15% | 35 of 75 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 46% | 55 of 75 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 23% | 24 of 75 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 15% | 39 of 75 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 18% | 33 of 75 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 11% | 37 of 75 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 6/yr | 44 of 75 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 19/yr | 17/yr | 11 of 75 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 50/yr | 48/yr | 35 of 75 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 108/yr | 105/yr | 34 of 75 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Arkansas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Clark County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in March, 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