Mayes County, Oklahoma · Pryor Creek
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Mayes County averages 15 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 17% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Mayes County averages 13.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Mayes County gets about 13.1 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 67 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
26% of occupied homes in Mayes County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Oklahoma county median of 12.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 92 times a year in Mayes County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 18,391 homes and around 39,604 residents, Mayes County is 655 square miles of northeast Oklahoma. Besides Pryor Creek, the county seat, the biggest communities are Chouteau, Locust Grove and Salina. The county's median home was built in 1981.
50/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mayes County ranks 42 of 77 Oklahoma counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mayes County ranks highest compared with other Oklahoma counties.
For frozen pipes, Mayes County is a typical Oklahoma county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 15 nights a year at or below 20°F (27th of 77) and 74 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 10 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -12°F on February 17, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 1 and the last spring freeze around Mar 28.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Oklahoma. Of roughly 48 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 13.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 20th of 77. May, July and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.93 inches, May 1, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.74 inches (through May 23, 2019).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 67 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
48% of homes in Mayes County predate 1980, below the Oklahoma county median of 54.8%, which ranks 51st of Oklahoma's 77 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 26% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
25% 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 18% 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
About 92 nights a year in Mayes County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (52nd 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Mayes County homes break down as 27% utility gas, 47% electric, 19% propane and 7% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Mayes County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Craig gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mayes. Craig County has the oldest housing nearby, with 59% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mayes | Oklahoma median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 24% | 56 of 77 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 55% | 51 of 77 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 22% | 22 of 77 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 12% | 15 of 77 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 17% | 41 of 77 |
| Wood or propane heat | 26% | 13% | 7 of 77 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 15/yr | 13/yr | 27 of 77 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 11/yr | 20 of 77 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 67/yr | 65/yr | 31 of 77 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 92/yr | 98/yr | 52 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 Mayes County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in May, July and October.
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