Dickenson County, Virginia · Clintwood
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Pipes freeze in Dickenson County on about 20 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 22% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Dickenson County averages 7.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Dickenson County spike on heavy-rain days, about 7.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 85 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
10% of occupied homes in Dickenson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 21 muggy nights a year, mold in Dickenson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Dickenson County covers 330 square miles of southwest Virginia, with about 13,733 residents and 7,362 homes. Clintwood is the county seat; Haysi and Clinchco are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1982, half after.
45/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Dickenson County ranks 67 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Dickenson County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Dickenson County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Virginia. It averaged 94 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 20 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Virginia counties that's 22nd.
The longest cold spell was straight 8 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -14°F on February 20, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, 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 Oct 27 and end around Apr 22.
Dickenson gets fewer downpours than most Virginia counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 49.2 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 7.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 85th of 95. February, May and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.17 inches, August 18, 2021. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.89 inches, ending July 29, 2022, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 85 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 47% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Dickenson near the middle of Virginia's 95 counties.
The mix runs from 22% built before 1960 to 21% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
32% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Here 28% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
19% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Dickenson County averages 21 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in July. 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, Dickenson County homes break down as 3% utility gas, 84% electric, 5% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Virginia 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 Dickenson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Wise gets more pipe-freeze nights than Dickenson. Buchanan County has the oldest housing nearby, with 52% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Dickenson | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 22% | 20% | 41 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 47% | 46% | 42 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 25% | 69 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 28% | 9.6% | 3 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 15% | 28 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.8% | 12% | 61 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 20/yr | 14/yr | 22 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.7/yr | 10/yr | 85 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 85/yr | 77/yr | 25 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 21/yr | 64/yr | 79 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Virginia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Dickenson County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in February, May and July.
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