Will Pipes Freeze in Rich County, UT? 138 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Rich County
In a normal year Rich County, UT gets 138 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 | 239 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 138 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 75 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 40 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 138 nights of risk to 75 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 09/01, last around 06/14. For 20°F: 10/01 to 04/30.
How cold Rich County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 6°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: 75 nights a year, and 40 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4°F | 7°F | 18°F | 25°F | 33°F | 39°F | 45°F | 43°F | 34°F | 25°F | 16°F | 6°F |
Rich County next to its neighbours
Cache County, UT, 44 km west, gets 64 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich County, UT | - | 239 nights | 138 nights | 4°F |
| Cache County, UT | 44 km west | 155 nights | 64 nights | 16°F |
| Morgan County, UT | 66 km southwest | 192 nights | 86 nights | 13°F |
| Weber County, UT | 66 km southwest | 189 nights | 86 nights | 12°F |
| Uinta County, WY | 68 km southeast | 203 nights | 103 nights | 12°F |
| Bear Lake County, ID | 74 km north | 213 nights | 109 nights | 7°F |
| Franklin County, ID | 78 km northwest | 173 nights | 73 nights | 15°F |
Rich County within UT
Rich County ranks 1 of 29 UT counties for nights below 20°F. The fewest is Salt Lake County, UT: 22 nights, winter lows near 28°F. At 6,579 ft, Rich County sits 772 ft above the state's median county elevation of 5,807 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 Randolph, UT, 6 km away (close 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.