Will Pipes Freeze in Ellis County, KS? 52 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Ellis County
In a normal year Ellis County, KS gets 52 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 66% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs October to April, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 131 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 52 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 15 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 3 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 52 nights of risk to 15 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 10/22, last around 04/19. For 20°F: 11/17 to 03/16.
How cold Ellis County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 20°F; the coldest month, January, averages 18°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: 15 nights a year, and 3 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18°F | 21°F | 30°F | 39°F | 51°F | 62°F | 67°F | 65°F | 56°F | 42°F | 29°F | 21°F |
Ellis County next to its neighbours
Rush County, KS, 43 km south, gets 64 nights below 20°F to Ellis County's 52 nights. Barton County, KS, 68 km southeast, gets 45 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellis County, KS | - | 131 nights | 52 nights | 18°F |
| Rush County, KS | 43 km south | 144 nights | 64 nights | 16°F |
| Russell County, KS | 47 km east | 133 nights | 55 nights | 18°F |
| Trego County, KS | 47 km west | 136 nights | 56 nights | 17°F |
| Rooks County, KS | 48 km north | 147 nights | 63 nights | 16°F |
| Osborne County, KS | 68 km northeast | 154 nights | 75 nights | 14°F |
| Barton County, KS | 68 km southeast | 121 nights | 45 nights | 18°F |
Ellis County within KS
Ellis County ranks 48 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 2,137 ft, Ellis County sits 612 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.
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 Hays, KS, 5 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.