Prentiss County, Mississippi · Booneville
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Prentiss County averages 7 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to January, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
December brings the most downpours to Prentiss County, part of 16.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Prentiss County gets about 16.8 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Prentiss County, 4.26 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
8% of occupied homes in Prentiss County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
About 98 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
Prentiss County covers 415 square miles of northeast Mississippi, with about 25,184 residents and 11,050 homes. Booneville is the county seat; Wheeler, Jumpertown and Marietta are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1981, half after.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Prentiss County ranks 16 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Prentiss County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Prentiss County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Mississippi. From 2015–2024 it averaged 7 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 54 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 3rd of 82 counties.
On January 17, 2024 the low fell to about 1°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 6 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 10 and end around Mar 23.
Rainfall is about average for Mississippi. About 16.8 days a year bring an inch or more (29th of 82), most often in December, out of 59.4 inches of total precipitation. On March 2, 2023, 4.26 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.56 inches, ending February 23, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 51 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
Roughly 48% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Prentiss among the oldest housing stocks of Mississippi's 82 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 15% of homes are pre-1960 and 19% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
32% 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.
Here 16% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 98 times a year here, below the Mississippi county median of 125. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Prentiss County it's 39% utility gas, 52% electric, 7% propane and 2% 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 Prentiss County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Alcorn and Tippah get more pipe-freeze nights than Prentiss. Tishomingo County has the oldest housing nearby, with 49% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Prentiss | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 15% | 42 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 45% | 25 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 23% | 59 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 20% | 59 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 17% | 66 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 8.4% | 15% | 65 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 7/yr | 3/yr | 3 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 16/yr | 29 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 51/yr | 32/yr | 5 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 98/yr | 125/yr | 78 of 82 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Mississippi county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Prentiss County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in February, March 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