Will Pipes Freeze in Iron County, MI? 120 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Iron County
In a normal year Iron County, MI gets 120 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 98% 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 | 205 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 120 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 74 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 45 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 120 nights of risk to 74 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 09/09, last around 06/06. For 20°F: 10/22 to 04/28.
How cold Iron County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 3°F; the coldest month, January, averages 0°F overnight. 10 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, April, November, December: 74 nights a year, and 45 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0°F | 1°F | 10°F | 24°F | 37°F | 47°F | 51°F | 49°F | 42°F | 31°F | 21°F | 9°F |
Iron County next to its neighbours
Florence County, WI, 35 km south, gets 112 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron County, MI | - | 205 nights | 120 nights | 0°F |
| Florence County, WI | 35 km south | 194 nights | 112 nights | 3°F |
| Dickinson County, MI | 55 km east | 186 nights | 103 nights | 5°F |
| Forest County, WI | 59 km south | 190 nights | 109 nights | 4°F |
| Baraga County, MI | 60 km north | 195 nights | 115 nights | 6°F |
| Vilas County, WI | 75 km west | 193 nights | 116 nights | 1°F |
| Marquette County, MI | 91 km northeast | 175 nights | 91 nights | 10°F |
Iron County within MI
Iron County ranks 1 of 83 MI counties for nights below 20°F. The fewest is Allegan County, MI: 38 nights, winter lows near 24°F. At 1,598 ft, Iron County sits 790 ft above the state's median county elevation of 808 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 Amasa (1 mi W), MI, 10 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.