Upton County, Texas · Rankin
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With 44% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in October. Upton County averages 2.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
44% 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.
Upton County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 1.71 inches, and about 33 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Upton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 120 muggy nights a year, mold in Upton County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 3,191 people live in Upton County, 1,241 square miles in western Texas, in roughly 1,683 homes. The county seat is Rankin, and McCamey is the other large town. Half the homes here were built before 1967, half after.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Upton County ranks 115 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Upton County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Upton County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 35 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 3 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 94th.
The longest cold spell was straight 8 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about 4°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from January, 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 24 and end around Feb 24.
Upton gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 13.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 2.6 days of an inch or more (212th of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 1.71 inches on November 6, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 2.57 inches, ending June 2, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 33 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
63% of homes in Upton County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 45th of Texas's 232 counties.
44% 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.
16% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above 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.
The Census counted 19% of homes as vacant, above the Texas county median of 16.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 120 nights a year in Upton County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (148th of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Upton County's occupied homes: 41% utility gas, 53% electric, 4% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Upton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ector, Midland and Reagan get more pipe-freeze nights than Upton. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Upton | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 44% | 20% | 17 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 63% | 46% | 45 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 26% | 194 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 13% | 91 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 17% | 87 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.3% | 6.5% | 156 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.6/yr | 7.8/yr | 212 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 33/yr | 27/yr | 87 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 120/yr | 129/yr | 148 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 Upton County: freezing from January, heavy rain in May, September 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