Will Pipes Freeze in Taos County, NM? 108 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Taos County
In a normal year Taos County, NM gets 108 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 95% of US counties.
Risk level: Severe. The risk season runs October to April, worst in December.
It depends where the pipe is
| Pipe | Freezes near | Nights a year |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor spigot, open crawlspace | 32°F | 203 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 108 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 49 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 18 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 108 nights of risk to 49 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 09/26, last around 05/31. For 20°F: 10/19 to 04/23.
How cold Taos County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 11°F; the coldest month, January, averages 9°F overnight. 10 months normally bring at least one night below 32°F (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec). Nights below 10°F, cold enough to freeze insulated pipe in an unheated space, come in January, February, March, October, November, December: 49 nights a year, and 18 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9°F | 15°F | 22°F | 28°F | 35°F | 45°F | 50°F | 49°F | 42°F | 30°F | 19°F | 10°F |
Taos County next to its neighbours
Costilla County, CO, 80 km north, gets 120 nights below 20°F to Taos County's 108 nights. Colfax County, NM, 89 km east, gets 98 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taos County, NM | - | 203 nights | 108 nights | 9°F |
| Costilla County, CO | 80 km north | 210 nights | 120 nights | 6°F |
| Conejos County, CO | 85 km northwest | 218 nights | 141 nights | 1°F |
| Colfax County, NM | 89 km east | 185 nights | 98 nights | 13°F |
| Mora County, NM | 92 km southeast | 185 nights | 85 nights | 16°F |
| Rio Arriba County, NM | 95 km west | 217 nights | 118 nights | 9°F |
| Los Alamos County, NM | 99 km southwest | 150 nights | 51 nights | 20°F |
Taos County within NM
Taos County ranks 4 of 33 NM counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Rio Arriba County, NM at 118 nights, with a 11°F average winter low. The fewest is Sierra County, NM: 6 nights, winter lows near 31°F. At 7,573 ft, Taos County sits 1,969 ft above the state's median county elevation of 5,604 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.
At this many nights, foam alone is not the answer: insulate or heat tape?.
Where this comes from
NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals, blended from 3 nearby stations and adjusted for elevation; closest is Cerro, NM, 19 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.