Greenbrier County, West Virginia · Lewisburg
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Greenbrier County averages 34 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 28% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 8.1 times a year here, most often in April. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
28% 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 Greenbrier County, 4.95 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
20% of occupied homes in Greenbrier County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the West Virginia county median of 10.1%.
About 4 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
Greenbrier County covers 1,020 square miles of southern West Virginia, with about 32,386 residents and 17,913 homes. Besides Lewisburg, the county seat, the biggest communities are White Sulphur Springs, Rainelle and Ronceverte. The county's median home was built in 1977.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Greenbrier County ranks 12 of 55 West Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Greenbrier County ranks highest compared with other West Virginia counties.
Greenbrier is on the colder side of West Virginia for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 34 nights a year at or below 20°F (7th of 55) and 114 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 21, 2015 the low fell to about -9°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 14 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs November to March, 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 Oct 22 and the last spring freeze around Apr 25.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of West Virginia. About 8.1 days a year bring an inch or more (6th of 55), most often in April, out of 49.3 inches of total precipitation. On June 24, 2016, 4.95 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.95 inches (through June 24, 2016).
About 96 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 54% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Greenbrier near the middle of West Virginia's 55 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 28% predate 1960 and 19% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
27% 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 13% 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.
Beyond water
Greenbrier County averages 4 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Greenbrier County it's 17% utility gas, 55% electric, 11% propane and 9% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Greenbrier County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pocahontas gets more pipe-freeze nights than Greenbrier. Fayette County has the oldest housing nearby, with 63% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Greenbrier | West Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 31% | 33 of 55 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 55% | 32 of 55 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 17% | 25 of 55 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 16% | 36 of 55 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 17% | 28 of 55 |
| Wood or propane heat | 20% | 10% | 18 of 55 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 34/yr | 25/yr | 7 of 55 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.1/yr | 6.8/yr | 6 of 55 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 96/yr | 89/yr | 8 of 55 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 4/yr | 27/yr | 51 of 55 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest West Virginia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Greenbrier County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in February, April 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