Nolan County, Texas · Sweetwater
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Nolan County averages 5 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly January, and 40% of its homes predate 1960.
September brings the most downpours to Nolan County, part of 4.9 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Nolan County gets about 4.9 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Nolan County, 4.13 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
7% of occupied homes in Nolan County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 111 times a year in Nolan County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 7,104 homes and around 14,454 residents, Nolan County is 912 square miles of central Texas. Besides Sweetwater, the county seat, the biggest communities are Roscoe and Blackwell. Half the homes here were built before 1965, half after.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Nolan County ranks 57 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Nolan County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Nolan County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. From 2015–2024 it averaged 5 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 40 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 54th of 232 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 9 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -2°F on February 15, 2021.
The freeze season here runs January, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 14 and end around Mar 13.
Nolan gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 24.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.9 days of an inch or more (172nd of 232). Those downpours cluster in September, October and November, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.13 inches on September 9, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.93 inches, ending September 11, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 36 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
76% of homes in Nolan County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 12th of Texas's 232 counties.
40% 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.
Beyond water
Nolan County averages 111 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, Nolan County homes break down as 37% utility gas, 56% electric, 5% propane and 2% wood. Wood heat is 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 Nolan 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 Nolan. Fisher County has the oldest housing nearby, with 78% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Nolan | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 40% | 20% | 24 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 46% | 12 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 6.2% | 26% | 227 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.5% | 13% | 196 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 17% | 109 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7% | 6.5% | 111 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 3/yr | 54 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.9/yr | 7.8/yr | 172 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 36/yr | 27/yr | 75 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 111/yr | 129/yr | 178 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 Nolan County: freezing from January, heavy rain in September, October and November.
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