Jefferson County, Tennessee · Dandridge
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With 14% of homes built before 1960 and about 9 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
February brings the most downpours to Jefferson County, part of 9.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
14% 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.
Jefferson County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.92 inches, and about 63 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
5% of occupied homes in Jefferson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 74 muggy nights a year, mold in Jefferson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 25,632 homes and around 56,864 residents, Jefferson County is 275 square miles of eastern Tennessee. Besides Dandridge, the county seat, the biggest communities are Jefferson City, Strawberry Plains and White Pine. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1991.
26/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Jefferson County ranks 93 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jefferson County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Tennessee, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 67 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 9 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Tennessee counties that's 72nd.
The longest cold spell was straight 6 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2015. The coldest night reached about -1°F on February 20, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 6 and end around Apr 1.
Jefferson gets fewer downpours than most Tennessee counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 50.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 9.1 days of an inch or more (87th of 95). Those downpours cluster in January, February and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.92 inches on August 18, 2021. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.49 inches, ending August 18, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 63 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
34% of homes in Jefferson County predate 1980, below the Tennessee county median of 41.2%, which ranks 75th of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 14% of homes are pre-1960 and 31% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 35% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 22% 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.
With 15% 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
Jefferson County averages 74 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Jefferson County it's 12% utility gas, 81% electric, 4% 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 Jefferson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen and Sevier get more pipe-freeze nights than Jefferson. Hamblen County has the oldest housing nearby, with 51% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jefferson | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 16% | 64 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 34% | 41% | 75 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 27% | 29 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 22% | 16% | 20 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 12% | 30 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.9% | 7.8% | 70 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 11/yr | 72 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.1/yr | 14/yr | 87 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 63/yr | 60/yr | 36 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 74/yr | 74/yr | 44 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Tennessee county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Jefferson County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in January, February 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