Lipscomb County, Texas · Lipscomb
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Pipes freeze in Lipscomb County on about 26 nights a year, mostly November to February. Older homes, 29% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Lipscomb County averages 4.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Lipscomb County spike on heavy-rain days, about 4.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Lipscomb County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.97 inches, and about 99 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
9% of occupied homes in Lipscomb County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 62 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
Lipscomb County covers 932 square miles of northern Texas, with about 2,918 residents and 1,432 homes. Lipscomb is the county seat; Booker, Higgins and Follett are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1973.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Lipscomb County ranks 55 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lipscomb County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Lipscomb is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. It averaged 107 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 26 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 4th.
The longest cold spell was straight 11 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -12°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 November 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 Oct 27 and the last spring freeze around Apr 8.
Lipscomb gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 23.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.7 days of an inch or more (177th of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, June and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.97 inches on September 22, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.39 inches (through October 9, 2018).
About 99 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 69% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lipscomb among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
29% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 10% 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.
28% 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 62 nights a year in Lipscomb County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (214th 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Lipscomb County homes break down as 69% utility gas, 19% electric, 7% propane and 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 Lipscomb County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lipscomb 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 | Lipscomb | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 29% | 20% | 57 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 69% | 46% | 31 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 26% | 202 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.8% | 13% | 163 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 28% | 17% | 23 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 8.5% | 6.5% | 89 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 26/yr | 3/yr | 4 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.7/yr | 7.8/yr | 177 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 99/yr | 27/yr | 6 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 62/yr | 129/yr | 214 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 Lipscomb County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in May, June 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