Will Pipes Freeze in Barber County, KS? 41 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Barber County
In a normal year Barber County, KS gets 41 nights at or below 20°F, the point where bare pipes in a garage, attic or outside wall start to freeze. That is more than 57% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs November to March, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 116 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 41 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 10 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 1 night |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 41 nights of risk to 10 nights. A 12 ft heat-tape kit runs $17 to $37; an average burst-pipe repair is about $500.
Month by month
Nights at or below 20°F in a normal year.
First 32°F night is usually around 10/23, last around 04/13. For 20°F: 11/19 to 03/09.
How cold Barber County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 23°F; the coldest month, January, averages 21°F overnight. 7 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, December: 10 nights a year, and 1 night below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21°F | 24°F | 33°F | 43°F | 54°F | 64°F | 69°F | 67°F | 58°F | 44°F | 32°F | 23°F |
Barber County next to its neighbours
Pratt County, KS, 47 km north, gets 43 nights below 20°F to Barber County's 41 nights. Comanche County, KS, 50 km west, gets 38 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barber County, KS | - | 116 nights | 41 nights | 21°F |
| Pratt County, KS | 47 km north | 122 nights | 43 nights | 19°F |
| Comanche County, KS | 50 km west | 108 nights | 38 nights | 22°F |
| Harper County, KS | 55 km east | 101 nights | 30 nights | 22°F |
| Woods County, OK | 57 km south | 108 nights | 34 nights | 23°F |
| Kingman County, KS | 60 km northeast | 116 nights | 42 nights | 19°F |
| Alfalfa County, OK | 64 km southeast | 104 nights | 30 nights | 24°F |
Barber County within KS
Barber County ranks 81 of 105 KS counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Rawlins County, KS at 83 nights, with a 16°F average winter low. The fewest is Cherokee County, KS: 27 nights, winter lows near 26°F. At 1,657 ft, Barber County sits 132 ft above the state's median county elevation of 1,526 ft.
What to do here
- Treat it as a building fix, not a night-of routine: insulate, heat tape, seal crawlspace vents.
- An automatic leak shutoff pays for itself if one burst is avoided.
- Know where the main shutoff is before the first hard freeze.
At this many nights, foam alone is not the answer: insulate or heat tape?.
Where this comes from
NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals, blended from 3 nearby stations and adjusted for elevation; closest is Medicine Lodge, KS, 14 km away (close match). A normal year, not tonight's forecast: check the forecast low for the night itself. How a county figure is built from stations: how the numbers are made.