Will Pipes Freeze in Steuben County, IN? 63 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Steuben County
In a normal year Steuben County, IN gets 63 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 73% 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 | 145 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 63 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 26 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 9 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 63 nights of risk to 26 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 10/16, last around 04/30. For 20°F: 11/19 to 03/29.
How cold Steuben County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 19°F; the coldest month, January, averages 16°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, December: 26 nights a year, and 9 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16°F | 17°F | 26°F | 36°F | 48°F | 58°F | 61°F | 59°F | 51°F | 40°F | 30°F | 22°F |
Steuben County next to its neighbours
Hillsdale County, MI, 44 km northeast, gets 66 nights below 20°F to Steuben County's 63 nights. DeKalb County, IN, 27 km south, gets 54 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steuben County, IN | - | 145 nights | 63 nights | 16°F |
| DeKalb County, IN | 27 km south | 134 nights | 54 nights | 17°F |
| Branch County, MI | 31 km north | 137 nights | 56 nights | 16°F |
| LaGrange County, IN | 35 km west | 140 nights | 62 nights | 17°F |
| Williams County, OH | 36 km east | 144 nights | 61 nights | 17°F |
| Noble County, IN | 44 km southwest | 130 nights | 53 nights | 17°F |
| Hillsdale County, MI | 44 km northeast | 148 nights | 66 nights | 15°F |
Steuben County within IN
Steuben County ranks 1 of 92 IN counties for nights below 20°F. The fewest is Floyd County, IN: 19 nights, winter lows near 29°F. At 1,044 ft, Steuben County sits 285 ft above the state's median county elevation of 759 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.
The dates to be done by: when freeze season starts and ends.
Where this comes from
NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals, blended from 3 nearby stations and adjusted for elevation; closest is Angola, IN, 3 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.