Will Pipes Freeze in Wright County, IA? 89 nights a Year
Freeze nights in Wright County
In a normal year Wright County, IA gets 89 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 87% 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 | 161 nights |
| Bare pipe in garage, attic or outside wall | 20°F | 89 nights |
| Insulated pipe in unheated space | 10°F | 51 nights |
| Inside the heated house | 0°F | 26 nights |
Foam-sleeving a bare pipe in unheated space takes it from 89 nights of risk to 51 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 10/10, last around 04/30. For 20°F: 11/06 to 04/01.
How cold Wright County nights get
Average winter (Dec-Feb) low: 10°F; the coldest month, January, averages 6°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, November, December: 51 nights a year, and 26 nights below zero.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6°F | 11°F | 25°F | 35°F | 48°F | 59°F | 62°F | 60°F | 51°F | 38°F | 25°F | 13°F |
Wright County next to its neighbours
Franklin County, IA, 38 km east, gets 84 nights.
| County | Distance | Below 32°F | Below 20°F | Jan low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright County, IA | - | 161 nights | 89 nights | 6°F |
| Franklin County, IA | 38 km east | 157 nights | 84 nights | 8°F |
| Hancock County, IA | 38 km north | 160 nights | 89 nights | 6°F |
| Hamilton County, IA | 38 km south | 160 nights | 84 nights | 7°F |
| Humboldt County, IA | 39 km west | 154 nights | 82 nights | 8°F |
| Webster County, IA | 49 km southwest | 157 nights | 83 nights | 8°F |
| Cerro Gordo County, IA | 55 km northeast | 161 nights | 88 nights | 7°F |
Wright County within IA
Wright County ranks 7 of 99 IA counties for nights below 20°F. The most is Osceola County, IA at 99 nights, with a 8°F average winter low. The fewest is Des Moines County, IA: 52 nights, winter lows near 19°F. At 1,173 ft, Wright County sits 84 ft above the state's median county elevation of 1,090 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 Clarion, IA, 1 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.