Harmon County, Oklahoma · Hollis
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With 43% of homes built before 1960 and about 12 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Harmon County, part of 6.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
43% 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.
In Harmon County, 2.96 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in Harmon County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Oklahoma county median of 12.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 98 times a year in Harmon County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 1,354 homes and around 2,406 residents, Harmon County is 537 square miles of southern Oklahoma. Besides Hollis, the county seat, the biggest community is Gould. The county's median home was built in 1964.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Harmon County ranks 46 of 77 Oklahoma counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Harmon County ranks highest compared with other Oklahoma counties.
For frozen pipes, Harmon County is a typical Oklahoma county, which is still plenty. It averaged 70 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 12 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 77 Oklahoma counties that's 41st.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 10 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -4°F on February 16, 2021.
The freeze season here runs December to February, 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 10 and the last spring freeze around Mar 29.
Harmon gets fewer downpours than most Oklahoma counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 24.9 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.4 days of an inch or more (68th of 77). Those downpours cluster in April, May and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.96 inches on October 9, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.17 inches (through October 9, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 66 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
78% of homes in Harmon County predate 1980, above the Oklahoma county median of 54.8%, which ranks 4th of Oklahoma's 77 counties.
In Harmon County 43% 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.
With 29% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
About 98 nights a year in Harmon County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (39th of 77 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Harmon County's occupied homes: 59% utility gas, 30% electric, 9% 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 Harmon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Beckham gets more pipe-freeze nights than Harmon. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Harmon | Oklahoma median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 43% | 24% | 9 of 77 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 55% | 4 of 77 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.9% | 22% | 74 of 77 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.5% | 12% | 68 of 77 |
| Vacant homes | 29% | 17% | 8 of 77 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.5% | 13% | 52 of 77 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 12/yr | 13/yr | 41 of 77 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.4/yr | 11/yr | 68 of 77 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 66/yr | 65/yr | 34 of 77 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 98/yr | 98/yr | 39 of 77 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Oklahoma county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Harmon County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in April, May and August.
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