Will Pipes Freeze in Cedar County, IA? 74 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Cedar County
In a normal year Cedar County, IA gets 74 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 79% 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 | 150 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 74 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 39 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 17 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 74 nights of risk to 39 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 10/15, last around 04/21. For 20°F: 11/14 to 03/22.
How cold Cedar County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 16°F; the coldest month, January, averages 12°F overnight. 9 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, November, December: 39 nights a year, and 17 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12°F | 16°F | 28°F | 38°F | 51°F | 61°F | 64°F | 61°F | 53°F | 41°F | 29°F | 19°F |
Cedar County next to its neighbours
Muscatine County, IA, 32 km south, gets 57 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar County, IA | - | 150 nights | 74 nights | 12°F |
| Muscatine County, IA | 32 km south | 126 nights | 57 nights | 14°F |
| Jones County, IA | 39 km north | 151 nights | 71 nights | 11°F |
| Johnson County, IA | 40 km west | 134 nights | 62 nights | 14°F |
| Scott County, IA | 45 km east | 136 nights | 62 nights | 14°F |
| Linn County, IA | 51 km northwest | 135 nights | 63 nights | 12°F |
| Clinton County, IA | 52 km east | 141 nights | 66 nights | 13°F |
Cedar County within IA
Cedar County ranks 57 of 99 IA counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Osceola County, IA at 99 nights, with a 8°F average winter low. The fewest is Des Moines County, IA: 52 nights, winter lows near 19°F. At 819 ft, Cedar County sits 270 ft below the state's median county elevation of 1,090 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.
The dates to be done by: when freeze season starts and ends.
Where this comes from
NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals, blended from 3 nearby stations and adjusted for elevation; closest is Tipton, IA, 1 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.