Hopkins County, Kentucky · Madisonville
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Pipes freeze in Hopkins County on about 15 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 28% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Hopkins County averages 13.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
28% 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.
Hopkins County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.31 inches, and about 62 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
6% of occupied homes in Hopkins County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kentucky county median of 12.6%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 83 times a year in Hopkins County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Hopkins County covers 542 square miles of southwest Kentucky, with about 45,119 residents and 21,001 homes. The county seat is Madisonville, and Dawson Springs, Earlington and White Plains round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1976, half after.
61/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Hopkins County ranks 26 of 120 Kentucky counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hopkins County ranks highest compared with other Kentucky counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Kentucky, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 70 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 15 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 120 Kentucky counties that's 102nd.
On February 19, 2015 the low fell to about -5°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 9 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to February. 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 5 and end around Apr 3.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Kentucky. Of roughly 53.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 13.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 31st of 120. February, July and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.31 inches, July 7, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.9 inches, ending July 7, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 62 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
57% of homes in Hopkins County predate 1980, above the Kentucky county median of 44.1%, which ranks 11th of Kentucky's 120 counties.
In Hopkins County 28% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
26% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 12% 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
About 83 nights a year in Hopkins County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (13th of 120 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Hopkins County's occupied homes: 44% utility gas, 50% electric, 4% propane and 2% 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 Hopkins County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Caldwell, McLean and Webster get more pipe-freeze nights than Hopkins. Caldwell County has the oldest housing nearby, with 60% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hopkins | Kentucky median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 18% | 17 of 120 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 44% | 11 of 120 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 25% | 110 of 120 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 19% | 85 of 120 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 13% | 67 of 120 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.6% | 13% | 102 of 120 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 15/yr | 20/yr | 102 of 120 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 12/yr | 31 of 120 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 62/yr | 73/yr | 104 of 120 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 83/yr | 59/yr | 13 of 120 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kentucky county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Hopkins County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, July 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