Gray County, Texas · Pampa
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Pipes freeze in Gray County on about 18 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 49% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Gray County averages 5.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Gray County spike on heavy-rain days, about 5.2 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Gray County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.01 inches, and about 82 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
2% of occupied homes in Gray County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 69 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 9,952 homes and around 21,045 residents, Gray County is 926 square miles of northern Texas. Besides Pampa, the county seat, the biggest communities are McLean, Lefors and Alanreed. The county's median home was built in 1961.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Gray County ranks 12 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gray County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Gray is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 18 nights a year at or below 20°F (20th of 232) and 89 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 11 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -7°F on February 15, 2021.
Most freezing nights fall from December to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 3 and the last spring freeze around Apr 2.
Gray gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 23.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 168th of 232. June, August and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.01 inches, October 22, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.99 inches (through October 4, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 82 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; Gray ranks 12th, with 76% of its homes built before 1980.
49% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
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 69 nights a year in Gray County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (210th of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Gray County it's 69% utility gas, 28% electric, 2% 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 Gray County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Carson gets more pipe-freeze nights than Gray. Carson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 76% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gray | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 49% | 20% | 5 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 46% | 12 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.8% | 26% | 216 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.1% | 13% | 212 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 20% | 17% | 82 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2% | 6.5% | 204 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 18/yr | 3/yr | 20 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 168 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 82/yr | 27/yr | 21 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 69/yr | 129/yr | 210 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 Gray County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in June, 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