Mitchell County, Texas · Colorado City
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With 49% of homes built before 1960 and about 5 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
September brings the most downpours to Mitchell County, part of 4.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
49% 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.
Mitchell County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3 inches, and about 40 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
14% of occupied homes in Mitchell County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 114 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
Mitchell County covers 911 square miles of central Texas, with about 9,018 residents and 3,691 homes. Colorado City is the county seat; Lake Colorado City, Loraine and Westbrook are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1961, half after.
61/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mitchell County ranks 38 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mitchell County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Mitchell County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 5 nights a year at or below 20°F (54th of 232) and 43 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 15, 2021 the low fell to about 0°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 9 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 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 16 and end around Feb 26.
Mitchell gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 20.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 4.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 185th of 232. May, June and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3 inches, September 3, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.81 inches, ending September 11, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 40 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
78% of homes in Mitchell County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 7th of Texas's 232 counties.
In Mitchell County 49% 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.
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.
With 25% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Mitchell County averages 114 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, Mitchell County homes break down as 34% utility gas, 49% electric, 12% propane and 2% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Texas counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Mitchell County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Scurry gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mitchell. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mitchell | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 49% | 20% | 4 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 46% | 7 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 7.8% | 26% | 220 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 13% | 123 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 17% | 46 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 14% | 6.5% | 36 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 3/yr | 54 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 185 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 40/yr | 27/yr | 59 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 114/yr | 129/yr | 160 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 Mitchell County: freezing from January, heavy rain in May, June and September.
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