Fisher County, Texas · Roby
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Pipes freeze in Fisher County on about 6 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 45% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Fisher County averages 5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Fisher County gets about 5 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 39 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
17% of occupied homes in Fisher County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 112 muggy nights a year, mold in Fisher County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 2,016 homes and around 3,655 residents, Fisher County is 899 square miles of central Texas. The county seat is Roby, and Rotan, McCaulley and Sylvester round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1963.
63/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Fisher County ranks 22 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Fisher County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Fisher is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. It averaged 43 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 6 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 44th.
The longest cold spell was straight 9 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -1°F on February 15, 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 January. 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 16 and the last spring freeze around Mar 7.
Fisher gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 23.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 170th of 232. June, September and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.36 inches, September 9, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.22 inches (through September 11, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 39 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
Roughly 78% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Fisher among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
In Fisher County 45% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Here 11% 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.
The Census counted 22% of homes as vacant, above the Texas county median of 16.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 112 times a year here, below the Texas county median of 129. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Fisher County homes break down as 39% utility gas, 42% electric, 15% propane and 2% wood. Wood and propane heat are above the Texas norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Fisher County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Fisher gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Fisher | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 45% | 20% | 13 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 46% | 7 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.1% | 26% | 213 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 13% | 153 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 17% | 59 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 17% | 6.5% | 19 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 3/yr | 44 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5/yr | 7.8/yr | 170 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 39/yr | 27/yr | 64 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 112/yr | 129/yr | 172 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 Fisher County: freezing from January, heavy rain in June, September 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