Bosque County, Texas · Meridian
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Pipes freeze in Bosque County on about 3 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 23% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Bosque County averages 10.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Bosque County gets about 10.2 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 25 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
17% of occupied homes in Bosque County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 136 muggy nights a year, mold in Bosque County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 18,687 people live in Bosque County, 983 square miles in eastern Texas, in roughly 9,348 homes. Meridian is the county seat; Clifton, Laguna Park and Walnut Springs are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1979.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Bosque County ranks 48 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Bosque County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
For frozen pipes, Bosque County is a typical Texas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 28 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 3 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 232 Texas counties that's 94th.
The longest cold spell was straight 7 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -2°F on February 16, 2021. 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 midwinter. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 22 and the last spring freeze around Feb 26.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. The county gets about 37 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.2 days of an inch or more (84th of 232). Those downpours cluster in April, May and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.01 inches on October 24, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.73 inches (through October 25, 2015).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 25 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
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Bosque ranks 90th, with 51% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 23% predate 1960 and 21% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 28% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 16% 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.
20% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
About 136 nights a year in Bosque County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (97th of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. 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, Bosque County homes break down as 18% utility gas, 64% electric, 15% propane and 2% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Texas counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Bosque County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Erath and Hamilton get more pipe-freeze nights than Bosque. Hamilton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Bosque | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 20% | 93 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 51% | 46% | 90 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 26% | 156 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 13% | 86 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 20% | 17% | 80 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 17% | 6.5% | 16 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 7.8/yr | 84 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 25/yr | 27/yr | 123 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 136/yr | 129/yr | 97 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Bosque County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May 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