Will Pipes Freeze in Kearny County, KS? 57 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Kearny County
In a normal year Kearny County, KS gets 57 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 70% 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 | 140 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 57 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 57 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 10/23, last around 04/18. For 20°F: 11/16 to 03/16.
How cold Kearny County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 20°F; the coldest month, January, averages 19°F overnight. 8 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19°F | 22°F | 29°F | 38°F | 49°F | 60°F | 65°F | 63°F | 55°F | 41°F | 28°F | 20°F |
Kearny County next to its neighbours
Hamilton County, KS, 43 km west, gets 76 nights below 20°F to Kearny County's 57 nights. Haskell County, KS, 62 km southeast, gets 52 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kearny County, KS | - | 140 nights | 57 nights | 19°F |
| Hamilton County, KS | 43 km west | 157 nights | 76 nights | 14°F |
| Grant County, KS | 50 km south | 149 nights | 67 nights | 17°F |
| Finney County, KS | 50 km east | 145 nights | 64 nights | 17°F |
| Wichita County, KS | 54 km north | 160 nights | 74 nights | 16°F |
| Haskell County, KS | 62 km southeast | 136 nights | 52 nights | 19°F |
| Stanton County, KS | 64 km southwest | 136 nights | 50 nights | 20°F |
Kearny County within KS
Kearny County ranks 34 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 3,230 ft, Kearny County sits 1,704 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 Lakin, KS, 8 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.