Madison County, Georgia · Danielsville
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Pipes freeze in Madison County on about 3 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 10% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.9 times a year here, most often in January. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Madison County gets about 13.9 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 43 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
10% of occupied homes in Madison County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
With 97 muggy nights a year, mold in Madison County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 31,528 people live in Madison County, 282 square miles in northern Georgia, in roughly 12,533 homes. Danielsville is the county seat; Comer, Hull and Colbert are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1990.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Madison County ranks 50 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Madison County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Madison 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 43 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 17 and the last spring freeze around Mar 17.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. The county gets about 52.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13.9 days of an inch or more (24th of 159). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.39 inches on September 27, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.29 inches (through September 28, 2024).
About 43 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
Georgia's 159 counties range widely in housing age; Madison ranks 97th, with 34% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 10% of homes are pre-1960 and 30% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 36% 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 31% 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.
Beyond water
Madison County averages 97 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in January. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Madison County it's 6% utility gas, 83% electric, 7% propane and 3% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Georgia 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 Madison County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Madison gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Elbert County has the oldest housing nearby, with 52% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Madison | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 10% | 15% | 110 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 34% | 38% | 97 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 27% | 61 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 31% | 21% | 37 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 14% | 111 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 10% | 7.1% | 57 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 2/yr | 25 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 12/yr | 24 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 43/yr | 29/yr | 31 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 Madison County: freezing from January, 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