Will Pipes Freeze in Brown County, KS? 62 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Brown County
In a normal year Brown County, KS gets 62 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 72% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs November to April, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 132 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 62 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 26 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 9 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 62 nights of risk to 26 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 10/22, last around 04/14. For 20°F: 11/19 to 03/16.
How cold Brown County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 18°F; the coldest month, January, averages 15°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, November, December: 26 nights a year, and 9 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15°F | 19°F | 29°F | 40°F | 53°F | 63°F | 66°F | 63°F | 54°F | 42°F | 30°F | 20°F |
Brown County next to its neighbours
Richardson County, NE, 35 km north, gets 59 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown County, KS | - | 132 nights | 62 nights | 15°F |
| Richardson County, NE | 35 km north | 133 nights | 59 nights | 16°F |
| Doniphan County, KS | 36 km east | 121 nights | 52 nights | 17°F |
| Nemaha County, KS | 37 km west | 132 nights | 56 nights | 16°F |
| Atchison County, KS | 39 km southeast | 116 nights | 47 nights | 17°F |
| Holt County, MO | 42 km northeast | 127 nights | 58 nights | 15°F |
| Jackson County, KS | 50 km southwest | 130 nights | 56 nights | 15°F |
Brown County within KS
Brown County ranks 25 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 1,065 ft, Brown County sits 461 ft below 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.
Interior pipes have a threshold too: the four freeze points.
Where this comes from
NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals, blended from 3 nearby stations and adjusted for elevation; closest is Hiawatha (1 mi S), KS, 3 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.