Will Pipes Freeze in Camas County, ID? 126 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Camas County
In a normal year Camas County, ID gets 126 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 98% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs September to May, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 233 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 126 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 69 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 30 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 126 nights of risk to 69 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.
How cold Camas County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 9°F; the coldest month, January, averages 8°F overnight. 12 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, April, October, November, December: 69 nights a year, and 30 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8°F | 10°F | 18°F | 26°F | 35°F | 40°F | 45°F | 44°F | 36°F | 28°F | 18°F | 9°F |
Camas County next to its neighbours
Custer County, ID, 95 km northeast, gets 145 nights below 20°F to Camas County's 126 nights. Elmore County, ID, 58 km west, gets 106 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camas County, ID | - | 233 nights | 126 nights | 8°F |
| Elmore County, ID | 58 km west | 211 nights | 106 nights | 10°F |
| Gooding County, ID | 59 km south | 148 nights | 46 nights | 22°F |
| Blaine County, ID | 67 km east | 193 nights | 101 nights | 9°F |
| Lincoln County, ID | 76 km southeast | 181 nights | 77 nights | 15°F |
| Boise County, ID | 93 km northwest | 238 nights | 101 nights | 12°F |
| Custer County, ID | 95 km northeast | 261 nights | 145 nights | 3°F |
Camas County within ID
Camas County ranks 3 of 44 ID counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Custer County, ID at 145 nights, with a 5°F average winter low. The fewest is Nez Perce County, ID: 20 nights, winter lows near 27°F. At 7,559 ft, Camas County sits 2,913 ft above the state's median county elevation of 4,646 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 Ketchum Ranger Station, ID, 39 km away (distant 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.