Will Pipes Freeze in Lake County, CO? 156 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Lake County
In a normal year Lake County, CO gets 156 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 100% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs September to May, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 259 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 156 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 90 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 36 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 156 nights of risk to 90 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.
How cold Lake County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 5°F; the coldest month, January, averages 4°F overnight. 12 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, April, October, November, December: 90 nights a year, and 36 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4°F | 5°F | 11°F | 19°F | 28°F | 35°F | 40°F | 39°F | 32°F | 24°F | 14°F | 6°F |
Lake County next to its neighbours
Summit County, CO, 50 km north, gets 177 nights below 20°F to Lake County's 156 nights. Pitkin County, CO, 49 km west, gets 119 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CO | - | 259 nights | 156 nights | 4°F |
| Pitkin County, CO | 49 km west | 213 nights | 119 nights | 9°F |
| Summit County, CO | 50 km north | 264 nights | 177 nights | 4°F |
| Chaffee County, CO | 53 km south | 256 nights | 156 nights | 0°F |
| Park County, CO | 55 km east | 248 nights | 153 nights | 1°F |
| Eagle County, CO | 55 km northwest | 247 nights | 141 nights | 6°F |
| Clear Creek County, CO | 79 km northeast | 234 nights | 136 nights | 12°F |
Lake County within CO
Lake County ranks 6 of 64 CO counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Summit County, CO at 177 nights, with a 5°F average winter low. The fewest is Mesa County, CO: 44 nights, winter lows near 21°F. At 9,466 ft, Lake County sits 2,586 ft above the state's median county elevation of 6,880 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 Sugarloaf Rsvr, CO, 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.