Will Pipes Freeze in Pawnee County, NE? 62 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Pawnee County
In a normal year Pawnee County, NE gets 62 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 72% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs November to April, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 137 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 62 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 27 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 9 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 62 nights of risk to 27 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 10/15, last around 04/22. For 20°F: 11/11 to 03/23.
How cold Pawnee County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 17°F; the coldest month, January, averages 15°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: 27 nights a year, and 9 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15°F | 18°F | 28°F | 39°F | 51°F | 61°F | 66°F | 63°F | 54°F | 41°F | 29°F | 19°F |
Pawnee County next to its neighbours
Johnson County, NE, 29 km north, gets 69 nights below 20°F to Pawnee County's 62 nights. Nemaha County, KS, 44 km southeast, gets 56 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, NE | - | 137 nights | 62 nights | 15°F |
| Johnson County, NE | 29 km north | 144 nights | 69 nights | 13°F |
| Gage County, NE | 39 km west | 144 nights | 69 nights | 14°F |
| Nemaha County, NE | 43 km northeast | 137 nights | 62 nights | 14°F |
| Nemaha County, KS | 44 km southeast | 132 nights | 56 nights | 16°F |
| Richardson County, NE | 45 km east | 133 nights | 59 nights | 16°F |
| Marshall County, KS | 46 km southwest | 139 nights | 61 nights | 15°F |
Pawnee County within NE
Pawnee County ranks 89 of 93 NE counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Sioux County, NE at 114 nights, with a 11°F average winter low. The fewest is Fillmore County, NE: 55 nights, winter lows near 19°F. At 1,234 ft, Pawnee County sits 776 ft below the state's median county elevation of 2,010 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 Pawnee City, NE, 9 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.