Forsyth County, Georgia · Cumming
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With 2% of homes built before 1960 and about 4 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in December. Forsyth County averages 13.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Forsyth County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Forsyth County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.82 inches, and about 49 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
3% of occupied homes in Forsyth County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
With 80 muggy nights a year, mold in Forsyth County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 267,287 people live in Forsyth County, 225 square miles in northwest Georgia, in roughly 92,575 homes. Cumming is the county seat. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 2004.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Forsyth County ranks 95 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Forsyth County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Forsyth is on the colder side of Georgia for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 4 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 50 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 18th of 159 counties.
The freeze season here runs 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 14 and the last spring freeze around Mar 27.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. Of roughly 57.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 13.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 28th of 159. January, February and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.82 inches, September 27, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.95 inches (through September 28, 2024).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 49 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
7% of homes in Forsyth County predate 1980, below the Georgia county median of 38.4%, which ranks 159th of Georgia's 159 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 63% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 31% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Beyond water
About 80 nights a year in Forsyth County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (145th of 159 counties). December is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Forsyth County homes break down as 69% utility gas, 27% electric, 3% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Forsyth County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cherokee and Dawson get more pipe-freeze nights than Forsyth. Fulton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 33% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Forsyth | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 1.9% | 15% | 156 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 6.8% | 38% | 159 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 63% | 27% | 1 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.5% | 21% | 153 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 3.8% | 14% | 159 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.4% | 7.1% | 113 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 4/yr | 2/yr | 18 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 12/yr | 28 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 49/yr | 29/yr | 17 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 80/yr | 112/yr | 145 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 Forsyth 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