Will Pipes Freeze in Lincoln County, WY? 148 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Lincoln County
In a normal year Lincoln County, WY gets 148 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 99% 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 | 245 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 148 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 86 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 47 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 148 nights of risk to 86 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 Lincoln County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 3°F; the coldest month, January, averages 2°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: 86 nights a year, and 47 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2°F | 4°F | 15°F | 23°F | 31°F | 37°F | 44°F | 42°F | 33°F | 23°F | 13°F | 3°F |
Lincoln County next to its neighbours
Sublette County, WY, 87 km northeast, gets 165 nights below 20°F to Lincoln County's 148 nights. Bear Lake County, ID, 53 km west, gets 109 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, WY | - | 245 nights | 148 nights | 2°F |
| Bear Lake County, ID | 53 km west | 213 nights | 109 nights | 7°F |
| Rich County, UT | 81 km southwest | 239 nights | 138 nights | 4°F |
| Sublette County, WY | 87 km northeast | 264 nights | 165 nights | 0°F |
| Caribou County, ID | 94 km northwest | 222 nights | 111 nights | 10°F |
| Franklin County, ID | 94 km west | 173 nights | 73 nights | 15°F |
| Cache County, UT | 104 km southwest | 155 nights | 64 nights | 16°F |
Lincoln County within WY
Lincoln County ranks 3 of 23 WY counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Sublette County, WY at 165 nights, with a 1°F average winter low. The fewest is Platte County, WY: 69 nights, winter lows near 16°F. At 8,629 ft, Lincoln County sits 3,332 ft above the state's median county elevation of 5,297 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 Kemmerer (2 mi N), WY, 47 km away (distant match). A normal year, not tonight's forecast: check the forecast low for the night itself. Why elevation is part of the blend: how county numbers are made.