Will Pipes Freeze in Park County, CO? 153 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Park County
In a normal year Park County, CO gets 153 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 | 248 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 153 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 86 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 45 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 153 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 Park County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 3°F; the coldest month, January, averages 1°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 45 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1°F | 4°F | 13°F | 20°F | 29°F | 36°F | 42°F | 41°F | 33°F | 22°F | 12°F | 3°F |
Park County next to its neighbours
Lake County, CO, 55 km west, gets 156 nights below 20°F to Park County's 153 nights. Teller County, CO, 54 km southeast, gets 107 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park County, CO | - | 248 nights | 153 nights | 1°F |
| Teller County, CO | 54 km southeast | 207 nights | 107 nights | 13°F |
| Lake County, CO | 55 km west | 259 nights | 156 nights | 4°F |
| Clear Creek County, CO | 64 km north | 234 nights | 136 nights | 12°F |
| Jefferson County, CO | 65 km northeast | 208 nights | 105 nights | 14°F |
| Chaffee County, CO | 66 km southwest | 256 nights | 156 nights | 0°F |
| Summit County, CO | 66 km northwest | 264 nights | 177 nights | 4°F |
Park County within CO
Park County ranks 9 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 9,214 ft, Park County sits 2,334 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 Antero Rsvr, CO, 21 km away (fair 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.