Winkler County, Texas · Kermit
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With 26% 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.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Winkler County averages 1.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
26% 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.
Winkler County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.17 inches, and about 48 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
1% of occupied homes in Winkler County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 108 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
With 3,227 homes and around 7,454 residents, Winkler County is 841 square miles of western Texas. Besides Kermit, the county seat, the biggest communities are Monahans and Wink. Half the homes here were built before 1968, half after.
46/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Winkler County ranks 158 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Winkler County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Winkler County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. It averaged 49 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 5 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 54th.
The longest cold spell was straight 4 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.
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 15 and end around Mar 4.
Winkler gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 10.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 1.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 224th of 232. June, August and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.17 inches, August 1, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.19 inches, ending August 2, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 48 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 74% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Winkler among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
26% 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.
11% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below 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
About 108 nights a year in Winkler County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (185th of 232 counties). September 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Winkler County homes break down as 55% utility gas, 43% electric, under 1% 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 Winkler County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Andrews gets more pipe-freeze nights than Winkler. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Winkler | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 20% | 79 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 74% | 46% | 17 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 26% | 200 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 13% | 153 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 17% | 138 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 0.8% | 6.5% | 231 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 3/yr | 54 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 1.4/yr | 7.8/yr | 224 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 48/yr | 27/yr | 41 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 108/yr | 129/yr | 185 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 Winkler County: freezing from January, heavy rain in June, 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