Highland County, Virginia · Monterey
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Highland County averages 39 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 43% of its homes predate 1960.
September brings the most downpours to Highland County, part of 7.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
43% 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.
In Highland County, 3.34 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
50% of occupied homes in Highland County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 2 muggy nights a year, mold in Highland County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 2,296 people live in Highland County, 415 square miles in central Virginia, in roughly 1,864 homes. Monterey is the county seat; McDowell is the next largest community. The county's median home was built in 1971.
63/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Highland County ranks 12 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Highland County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Highland is on the colder side of Virginia for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 39 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 125 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 1st of 95 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 14 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -9°F on December 24, 2022. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 19 and the last spring freeze around May 5.
Highland gets fewer downpours than most Virginia counties, but they still fill basements. About 7.8 days a year bring an inch or more (82nd of 95), most often in September, out of 46.7 inches of total precipitation. On September 30, 2016, 3.34 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.42 inches (through October 1, 2016).
About 105 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
Roughly 60% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Highland among the oldest housing stocks of Virginia's 95 counties.
In Highland County 43% 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 15% 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.
46% 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
Highland County averages 2 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Highland County's occupied homes: 2% utility gas, 43% electric, 16% propane and 34% wood. Wood and propane heat are above the Virginia norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Highland County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Highland gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Highland | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 43% | 20% | 1 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 60% | 46% | 7 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 25% | 72 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 9.6% | 33 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 46% | 15% | 1 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 50% | 12% | 1 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 39/yr | 14/yr | 1 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.8/yr | 10/yr | 82 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 105/yr | 77/yr | 1 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 2/yr | 64/yr | 94 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 Highland County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, June and September.
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