Mineral County, West Virginia · Keyser
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With 23% of homes built before 1960 and about 28 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Mineral County averages 5.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
23% 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.
Mineral County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.13 inches, and about 96 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
20% of occupied homes in Mineral County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the West Virginia county median of 10.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 22 times a year in Mineral County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Mineral County covers 328 square miles of eastern West Virginia, with about 26,854 residents and 12,509 homes. Keyser is the county seat; Fort Ashby, Carpendale and Piedmont are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1977, half after.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Mineral County ranks 45 of 55 West Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mineral County ranks highest compared with other West Virginia counties.
Mineral County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of West Virginia. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 28 nights a year at or below 20°F (14th of 55) and 109 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 14 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -4°F on January 7, 2018. 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 24 and end around Apr 24.
Mineral gets fewer downpours than most West Virginia counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 38.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 5.6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 48th of 55. January, June and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.13 inches, August 9, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.36 inches, ending September 10, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 96 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
West Virginia's 55 counties range widely in housing age; Mineral ranks 27th, with 56% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 23% built before 1960 to 17% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 28% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Here 12% 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
About 22 nights a year in Mineral County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (36th of 55 counties). May 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 Mineral County it's 20% utility gas, 51% electric, 6% propane and 14% 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 Mineral County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grant gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mineral. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mineral | West Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 31% | 42 of 55 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 55% | 27 of 55 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 17% | 31 of 55 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 16% | 42 of 55 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 17% | 47 of 55 |
| Wood or propane heat | 20% | 10% | 16 of 55 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 28/yr | 25/yr | 14 of 55 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.6/yr | 6.8/yr | 48 of 55 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 96/yr | 89/yr | 8 of 55 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 22/yr | 27/yr | 36 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 Mineral County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in January, 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