Barrow County, Georgia · Winder
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Barrow County averages 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly January, and 7% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in January. Barrow County averages 14.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Barrow County gets about 14.6 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 39 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
3% of occupied homes in Barrow County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
About 97 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
With 32,248 homes and around 89,886 residents, Barrow County is 161 square miles of northern Georgia. Besides Winder, the county seat, the biggest communities are Auburn, Statham and Russell. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 2001.
54/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Barrow County ranks 59 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Barrow County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Barrow is on the colder side of Georgia for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 39 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 25th of 159 counties.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs January. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 19 and the last spring freeze around Mar 15.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. The county gets about 55.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 14.6 days of an inch or more (17th of 159). Those downpours cluster in January, February and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.33 inches on September 27, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.85 inches (through September 28, 2024).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 39 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 17% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Barrow among the newer housing stocks of Georgia's 159 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 53% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
About 31% 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.
Beyond water
Barrow County averages 97 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in January. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Barrow County homes break down as 18% utility gas, 79% electric, 2% 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 Barrow County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Barrow gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Walton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 22% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Barrow | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 7.1% | 15% | 134 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 17% | 38% | 150 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 53% | 27% | 6 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.2% | 21% | 135 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 4.5% | 14% | 155 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.5% | 7.1% | 136 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 2/yr | 25 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 12/yr | 17 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 39/yr | 29/yr | 42 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 97/yr | 112/yr | 123 of 159 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Georgia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Barrow County: freezing from January, heavy rain in January, February 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