Will Pipes Freeze in Bureau County, IL? 55 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Bureau County
In a normal year Bureau County, IL gets 55 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 68% 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 | 128 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 55 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 25 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 10 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 55 nights of risk to 25 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 10/17, last around 04/22. For 20°F: 11/16 to 03/23.
How cold Bureau County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 17°F; the coldest month, January, averages 14°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: 25 nights a year, and 10 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14°F | 18°F | 28°F | 38°F | 50°F | 60°F | 63°F | 61°F | 53°F | 42°F | 30°F | 20°F |
Bureau County next to its neighbours
Stark County, IL, 41 km southwest, gets 64 nights below 20°F to Bureau County's 55 nights. Putnam County, IL, 30 km southeast, gets 51 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bureau County, IL | - | 128 nights | 55 nights | 14°F |
| Putnam County, IL | 30 km southeast | 126 nights | 51 nights | 16°F |
| Stark County, IL | 41 km southwest | 141 nights | 64 nights | 14°F |
| Lee County, IL | 43 km northeast | 145 nights | 66 nights | 13°F |
| Marshall County, IL | 44 km south | 122 nights | 47 nights | 18°F |
| Whiteside County, IL | 50 km northwest | 144 nights | 67 nights | 12°F |
| Henry County, IL | 51 km west | 131 nights | 58 nights | 14°F |
Bureau County within IL
Bureau County ranks 27 of 102 IL counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Jo Daviess County, IL at 76 nights, with a 14°F average winter low. The fewest is Alexander County, IL: 21 nights, winter lows near 29°F. At 672 ft, Bureau County sits close to the state's median county elevation of 632 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 Princeton, IL, 8 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.