Ward County, Texas · Monahans
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Pipes freeze in Ward County on about 3 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 27% of the stock here, are most at risk.
October brings the most downpours to Ward County, part of 0.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
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.
Ward County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.57 inches, and about 42 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
2% of occupied homes in Ward County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 113 times a year in Ward County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 11,144 people live in Ward County, 836 square miles in western Texas, in roughly 5,165 homes. Besides Monahans, the county seat, the biggest communities are Southwest Sandhill, Wickett and Thorntonville. Half the homes here were built before 1973, half after.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Ward County ranks 181 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Ward County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Ward County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 43 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 94th of 232 counties.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about 6°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 4 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 25.
Ward gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. About 0.8 days a year bring an inch or more (227th of 232), most often in October, out of 9.6 inches of total precipitation. On August 1, 2017, 2.57 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.62 inches, ending August 2, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 42 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
66% of homes in Ward County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 42nd of Texas's 232 counties.
In Ward County 27% 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 19% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 113 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Ward County it's 41% utility gas, 56% electric, 2% 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 Ward County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ector and Winkler get more pipe-freeze nights than Ward. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Winkler County has the oldest housing nearby, with 74% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Ward | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 27% | 20% | 67 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 66% | 46% | 42 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 26% | 169 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 13% | 64 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 17% | 131 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.4% | 6.5% | 199 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 0.8/yr | 7.8/yr | 227 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 42/yr | 27/yr | 50 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 113/yr | 129/yr | 166 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 Ward County: freezing from January, heavy rain in May, August 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