Will Pipes Freeze in Polk County, MN? 118 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Polk County
In a normal year Polk County, MN gets 118 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 97% 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 | 183 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 118 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 82 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 53 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 118 nights of risk to 82 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 09/30, last around 05/09. For 20°F: 10/31 to 04/11.
How cold Polk County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 1°F; the coldest month, January, averages -3°F overnight. 9 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, April, November, December: 82 nights a year, and 53 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -3°F | 0°F | 15°F | 30°F | 43°F | 54°F | 58°F | 56°F | 47°F | 34°F | 19°F | 5°F |
Polk County next to its neighbours
Red Lake County, MN, 25 km northeast, gets 117 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk County, MN | - | 183 nights | 118 nights | -3°F |
| Red Lake County, MN | 25 km northeast | 182 nights | 117 nights | -3°F |
| Pennington County, MN | 42 km northeast | 184 nights | 116 nights | -3°F |
| Norman County, MN | 50 km south | 180 nights | 113 nights | -4°F |
| Marshall County, MN | 66 km north | 185 nights | 118 nights | -4°F |
| Mahnomen County, MN | 66 km southeast | 187 nights | 118 nights | -3°F |
| Traill County, ND | 68 km southwest | 177 nights | 112 nights | 0°F |
Polk County within MN
Polk County ranks 10 of 87 MN counties for nights below 20°F. The most is St. Louis County, MN at 130 nights, with a 0°F average winter low. The fewest is Winona County, MN: 81 nights, winter lows near 12°F. At 1,001 ft, Polk County sits 114 ft below the state's median county elevation of 1,114 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 Red Lake Falls, MN, 15 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.