Will Pipes Freeze in Caribou County, ID? 111 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Caribou County
In a normal year Caribou County, ID gets 111 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 96% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs October to May, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 222 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 111 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 57 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 26 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 111 nights of risk to 57 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 Caribou County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 11°F; the coldest month, January, averages 10°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, October, November, December: 57 nights a year, and 26 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10°F | 12°F | 20°F | 27°F | 35°F | 41°F | 46°F | 45°F | 37°F | 28°F | 20°F | 10°F |
Caribou County next to its neighbours
Lincoln County, WY, 94 km southeast, gets 148 nights below 20°F to Caribou County's 111 nights. Bannock County, ID, 57 km west, gets 73 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caribou County, ID | - | 222 nights | 111 nights | 10°F |
| Bannock County, ID | 57 km west | 177 nights | 73 nights | 15°F |
| Bear Lake County, ID | 58 km south | 213 nights | 109 nights | 7°F |
| Bonneville County, ID | 68 km north | 196 nights | 91 nights | 14°F |
| Franklin County, ID | 72 km south | 173 nights | 73 nights | 15°F |
| Bingham County, ID | 84 km northwest | 164 nights | 66 nights | 17°F |
| Lincoln County, WY | 94 km southeast | 245 nights | 148 nights | 2°F |
Caribou County within ID
Caribou County ranks 6 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 6,194 ft, Caribou County sits 1,548 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.
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 Soda Springs Airport, ID, 15 km away (fair match). A normal year, not tonight's forecast: check the forecast low for the night itself. What a "fair" or "distant" station match means is in the method guide.