Moore County, North Carolina · Carthage
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With 11% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 9.9 times a year here, most often in September. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Moore County gets about 9.9 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Moore County, 5.39 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Moore County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the North Carolina county median of 11.7%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 98 times a year in Moore County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Moore County covers 698 square miles of central North Carolina, with about 104,876 residents and 50,280 homes. The county seat is Carthage, and Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1994.
24/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Lower Moore County ranks 97 of 100 North Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Moore County ranks highest compared with other North Carolina counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for North Carolina, and pipes still freeze. 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 42 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 74th of 100 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 3 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near 8°F on January 7, 2018.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 16 and end around Mar 19.
Moore gets fewer downpours than most North Carolina counties, but they still fill basements. About 9.9 days a year bring an inch or more (90th of 100), most often in September, out of 49.2 inches of total precipitation. On September 17, 2018, 5.39 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 13.73 inches, ending September 17, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 41 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 30% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Moore among the newer housing stocks of North Carolina's 100 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 39% 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.
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.
11% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the North Carolina county median of 17.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Moore County averages 98 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in September. 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, Moore County homes break down as 6% utility gas, 81% electric, 9% propane and 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Moore County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Chatham, Harnett and Lee get more pipe-freeze nights than Moore. Richmond County has the oldest housing nearby, with 57% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Moore | North Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 11% | 18% | 78 of 100 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 30% | 41% | 81 of 100 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 39% | 26% | 18 of 100 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 17% | 83 of 100 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 13% | 58 of 100 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 12% | 55 of 100 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 5/yr | 74 of 100 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.9/yr | 12/yr | 90 of 100 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 41/yr | 57/yr | 77 of 100 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 98/yr | 89/yr | 34 of 100 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest North Carolina county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Moore County: freezing from January, heavy rain in May, September 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