Will Pipes Freeze in Clark County, KS? 60 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Clark County
In a normal year Clark County, KS gets 60 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 71% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs October to March, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 136 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 60 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 14 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 2 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 60 nights of risk to 14 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 04/21. For 20°F: 11/13 to 03/17.
How cold Clark County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 21°F; the coldest month, January, averages 19°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: 14 nights a year, and 2 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19°F | 22°F | 32°F | 41°F | 53°F | 64°F | 68°F | 66°F | 56°F | 42°F | 30°F | 20°F |
Clark County next to its neighbours
Meade County, KS, 48 km west, gets 49 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County, KS | - | 136 nights | 60 nights | 19°F |
| Meade County, KS | 48 km west | 131 nights | 49 nights | 19°F |
| Harper County, OK | 50 km south | 104 nights | 34 nights | 22°F |
| Comanche County, KS | 50 km east | 108 nights | 38 nights | 22°F |
| Ford County, KS | 51 km north | 130 nights | 48 nights | 20°F |
| Kiowa County, KS | 59 km northeast | 129 nights | 49 nights | 19°F |
| Gray County, KS | 80 km northwest | 140 nights | 57 nights | 18°F |
Clark County within KS
Clark County ranks 28 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 2,061 ft, Clark County sits 535 ft above 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 Ashland, KS, 6 km away (close 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.