Gaines County, Texas · Seminole
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Gaines County averages 9 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 2.2 times a year here, most often in October. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Gaines County gets about 2.2 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 63 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
3% of occupied homes in Gaines County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 80 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 22,232 people live in Gaines County, 1,502 square miles in western Texas, in roughly 7,719 homes. The county seat is Seminole, and Seagraves and Loop round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Gaines County ranks 197 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gaines County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Gaines is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 9 nights a year at or below 20°F (34th of 232) and 66 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 15, 2021 the low fell to about -1°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 7 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 11 and the last spring freeze around Mar 25.
Gaines gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 14 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 2.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 218th of 232. April, August and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.47 inches, May 5, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.67 inches (through August 31, 2016).
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
Roughly 36% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Gaines among the newer housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 15% of homes are pre-1960 and 28% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 36% 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 25% 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
Gaines County averages 80 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Gaines County's occupied homes: 22% utility gas, 74% electric, 3% 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 Gaines County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Terry and Yoakum get more pipe-freeze nights than Gaines. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Dawson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gaines | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 20% | 155 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 36% | 46% | 169 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 28% | 26% | 104 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 25% | 13% | 19 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 17% | 189 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.3% | 6.5% | 183 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 3/yr | 34 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 218 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 63/yr | 27/yr | 31 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 80/yr | 129/yr | 201 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 Gaines County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in April, August 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