Will Pipes Freeze in Fillmore County, NE? 55 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Fillmore County
In a normal year Fillmore County, NE gets 55 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 68% 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 | 131 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 55 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 24 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 6 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 55 nights of risk to 24 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 10/18, last around 04/20. For 20°F: 11/13 to 03/24.
How cold Fillmore County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 19°F; the coldest month, January, averages 17°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: 24 nights a year, and 6 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17°F | 21°F | 30°F | 40°F | 52°F | 62°F | 66°F | 64°F | 55°F | 43°F | 30°F | 21°F |
Fillmore County next to its neighbours
Clay County, NE, 38 km west, gets 65 nights below 20°F to Fillmore County's 55 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fillmore County, NE | - | 131 nights | 55 nights | 17°F |
| Clay County, NE | 38 km west | 145 nights | 65 nights | 16°F |
| York County, NE | 39 km north | 141 nights | 64 nights | 14°F |
| Thayer County, NE | 39 km south | 145 nights | 68 nights | 15°F |
| Saline County, NE | 39 km east | 142 nights | 69 nights | 13°F |
| Hamilton County, NE | 53 km northwest | 143 nights | 65 nights | 15°F |
| Nuckolls County, NE | 54 km southwest | 143 nights | 63 nights | 15°F |
Fillmore County within NE
Fillmore County ranks 93 of 93 NE counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Sioux County, NE at 114 nights, with a 11°F average winter low. At 1,644 ft, Fillmore County sits 365 ft below the state's median county elevation of 2,010 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 Geneva, NE, 1 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.