Bowie County, Texas · Boston
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Bowie County averages 16.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
16% 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.
Bowie County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.01 inches, and about 32 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Bowie County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 123 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
With 39,948 homes and around 92,115 residents, Bowie County is 885 square miles of northeast Texas. Besides Boston, the county seat, the biggest communities are Texarkana, Wake Village and New Boston. Half the homes here were built before 1984, half after.
55/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Bowie County ranks 76 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Bowie County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Bowie County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 34 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.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 4 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -2°F on February 16, 2021.
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 12 and end around Mar 1.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. Of roughly 55.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 16.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 17th of 232. February, April and May see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.01 inches, December 28, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.29 inches, ending February 23, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 32 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
43% of homes in Bowie County predate 1980, close to the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 137th of Texas's 232 counties.
The mix runs from 16% built before 1960 to 24% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 34% 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 13% 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.
Renters occupy 37% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Bowie County averages 123 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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, Bowie County homes break down as 37% utility gas, 58% 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 Bowie County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Red River gets more pipe-freeze nights than Bowie. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Morris County has the oldest housing nearby, with 59% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Bowie | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 20% | 152 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 43% | 46% | 137 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 26% | 136 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 13% | 121 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 17% | 164 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.9% | 6.5% | 169 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 7.8/yr | 17 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 32/yr | 27/yr | 93 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 123/yr | 129/yr | 136 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 Bowie County: freezing from January, heavy rain in February, April and May.
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