Tipton County, Tennessee · Covington
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With 13% of homes built before 1960 and about 8 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 14.4 times a year here, most often in March. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Tipton County gets about 14.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Tipton County, 4.24 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
4% of occupied homes in Tipton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
About 106 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
About 61,553 people live in Tipton County, 456 square miles in southwest Tennessee, in roughly 24,417 homes. Besides Covington, the county seat, the biggest communities are Atoka, Munford and Brighton. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1993.
40/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Tipton County ranks 77 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Tipton County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Tennessee, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 8 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 49 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 81st of 95 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 8 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 0°F on December 23, 2022.
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 8 and end around Mar 21.
Rainfall is about average for Tennessee. About 14.4 days a year bring an inch or more (43rd of 95), most often in March, out of 56.7 inches of total precipitation. On March 10, 2016, 4.24 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.35 inches, ending March 11, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 44 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
30% of homes in Tipton County predate 1980, below the Tennessee county median of 41.2%, which ranks 84th of Tennessee's 95 counties.
35% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Tennessee. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
35% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 11% 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.
Beyond water
Tipton County averages 106 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Tipton County it's 57% utility gas, 38% electric, 3% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Tipton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Haywood gets more pipe-freeze nights than Tipton. Haywood County has the oldest housing nearby, with 58% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Tipton | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 13% | 16% | 71 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 30% | 41% | 84 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 35% | 27% | 19 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 16% | 62 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 7.2% | 12% | 83 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.7% | 7.8% | 77 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 8/yr | 11/yr | 81 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 14/yr | 43 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 44/yr | 60/yr | 93 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 106/yr | 74/yr | 2 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 Tipton County: freezing from 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