Tucker County, West Virginia · Parsons
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With 26% of homes built before 1960 and about 42 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
September brings the most downpours to Tucker County, part of 8.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Tucker County gets about 8.7 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Tucker County, 2.87 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
25% of occupied homes in Tucker 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 2 times a year in Tucker County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 6,654 people live in Tucker County, 419 square miles in central West Virginia, in roughly 4,652 homes. Besides Parsons, the county seat, the biggest communities are Davis, Thomas and Hendricks. Half the homes here were built before 1983, half after.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Tucker County ranks 8 of 55 West Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Tucker County ranks highest compared with other West Virginia counties.
Tucker County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of West Virginia. It averaged 129 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 42 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 55 West Virginia counties that's 2nd.
On January 7, 2018 the low fell to about -12°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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 17 and end around Apr 30.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of West Virginia. Of roughly 56.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 8.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 2nd of 55. April, June and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.87 inches, July 29, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.13 inches, ending July 30, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 103 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
42% of homes in Tucker County predate 1980, below the West Virginia county median of 55.1%, which ranks 48th of West Virginia's 55 counties.
The mix runs from 26% built before 1960 to 20% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
38% 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.
9% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the West Virginia county median of 16.2%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
The Census counted 39% of homes as vacant, above the West Virginia county median of 17.4%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Tucker County averages 2 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 Tucker County it's 49% utility gas, 22% electric, 12% propane and 13% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most West 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 Tucker County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Tucker gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Barbour County has the oldest housing nearby, with 58% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Tucker | West Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 31% | 36 of 55 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 42% | 55% | 48 of 55 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 17% | 19 of 55 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.7% | 16% | 47 of 55 |
| Vacant homes | 39% | 17% | 2 of 55 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 10% | 11 of 55 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 42/yr | 25/yr | 2 of 55 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.7/yr | 6.8/yr | 2 of 55 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 103/yr | 89/yr | 2 of 55 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 2/yr | 27/yr | 53 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 Tucker 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