Will Pipes Freeze in Summit County, CO? 177 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Summit County
In a normal year Summit County, CO gets 177 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 100% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs September to June, worst in January.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 264 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 177 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 106 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 46 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 177 nights of risk to 106 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 Summit County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 5°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, May, October, November, December: 106 nights a year, and 46 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4°F | 5°F | 10°F | 17°F | 26°F | 35°F | 41°F | 39°F | 33°F | 22°F | 13°F | 5°F |
Summit County next to its neighbours
Clear Creek County, CO, 41 km east, gets 136 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit County, CO | - | 264 nights | 177 nights | 4°F |
| Clear Creek County, CO | 41 km east | 234 nights | 136 nights | 12°F |
| Eagle County, CO | 48 km west | 247 nights | 141 nights | 6°F |
| Lake County, CO | 50 km south | 259 nights | 156 nights | 4°F |
| Grand County, CO | 55 km north | 265 nights | 154 nights | 2°F |
| Gilpin County, CO | 58 km northeast | 235 nights | 126 nights | 13°F |
| Park County, CO | 66 km southeast | 248 nights | 153 nights | 1°F |
Summit County within CO
Summit County ranks 1 of 64 CO counties for nights below 20°F. The fewest is Mesa County, CO: 44 nights, winter lows near 21°F. At 12,059 ft, Summit County sits 5,179 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.
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 Climax, CO, 29 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.