Reeves County, Texas · Pecos
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Pipes freeze in Reeves County on about 3 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 27% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Reeves County averages 0.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
27% 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.
Reeves County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 1.53 inches, and about 44 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
7% of occupied homes in Reeves 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 103 times a year in Reeves County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 5,167 homes and around 12,664 residents, Reeves County is 2,635 square miles of western Texas. Pecos is the county seat; Town of Pecos, Balmorhea and Lindsay are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1975, half after.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Reeves County ranks 186 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Reeves County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Reeves County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 3 nights a year at or below 20°F (94th of 232) and 45 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 3 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 8°F on December 23, 2022.
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 16 and end around Feb 28.
Reeves gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 10.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 0.9 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 226th of 232. May, June and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 1.53 inches, August 17, 2022. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.13 inches, ending June 29, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 44 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
Roughly 56% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Reeves among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
27% 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.
12% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Texas county median of 13.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 103 times a year here, below the Texas county median of 129. 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, Reeves County homes break down as 45% utility gas, 45% electric, 7% 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 Reeves County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Culberson gets more pipe-freeze nights than Reeves. Ward County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Reeves | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 27% | 20% | 68 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 46% | 67 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 26% | 132 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 13% | 135 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 17% | 91 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7% | 6.5% | 111 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 0.9/yr | 7.8/yr | 226 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 44/yr | 27/yr | 47 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 103/yr | 129/yr | 189 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 Reeves County: freezing from January, 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