Mathews County, Virginia · Mathews
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Mathews County averages 6 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 31% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 10.1 times a year here, most often in October. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
31% 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 Mathews County, 5.53 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
15% of occupied homes in Mathews County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 101 muggy nights a year, mold in Mathews County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 5,493 homes and around 8,540 residents, Mathews County is 86 square miles of southeast Virginia. The county seat is Mathews, and Gwynn is the other large town. The county's median home was built in 1976.
56/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mathews County ranks 30 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mathews County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Mathews County is milder than most of Virginia, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 54 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 6 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 87th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 4 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near 3°F on January 6, 2018.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 17 and the last spring freeze around Mar 24.
Rainfall is about average for Virginia. The county gets about 49.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.1 days of an inch or more (43rd of 95). Those downpours cluster in June, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.53 inches on October 9, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.87 inches (through October 9, 2016).
About 52 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 56% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Mathews among the oldest housing stocks of Virginia's 95 counties.
Before 1960 is when 31% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
29% 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.
The Census counted 27% of homes as vacant, above the Virginia county median of 15%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 101 nights a year in Mathews County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (3rd of 95 counties). June 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Mathews County it's 2% utility gas, 78% electric, 11% propane and 4% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Mathews County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Middlesex gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mathews. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mathews | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 31% | 20% | 12 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 46% | 14 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 25% | 87 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.9% | 9.6% | 69 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 27% | 15% | 12 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 15% | 12% | 36 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 14/yr | 87 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 10/yr | 43 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 52/yr | 77/yr | 91 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 101/yr | 64/yr | 3 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 Mathews County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in June, 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