When does Clarksville freeze, and how often?

How many nights a year does Clarksville freeze?

About 78. NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Clarksville WWTP weather station count 78.4 nights a year with a low of 32°F or colder (NOAA NCEI annual normals). The Outlaw Field airport station, with only 17 years on file, shows 80.3, so the two sites land within two nights of each other. We use the treatment-plant station because it carries the full 30-year record.

December, January and February hold 56.1 of those nights by our addition, roughly seven in ten. November and March each add about ten more. From May through September the normal count is zero, so the freeze season here is a five-month stretch with thin edges in October and April.

When is the first freeze in Clarksville?

In a typical year the first 32°F night arrives around Nov 1. NOAA also publishes the spread: in one year out of ten the first freeze has already come by Oct 20, and in nine years out of ten it has come by Nov 14. Colder thresholds come later, as the table shows.

Mid-October is the time to drain garden hoses and close the indoor valves that feed outdoor spigots. The Red Cross advice is to open the outside spigot after closing the inside valve and leave it open, so leftover water has room to expand (American Red Cross, archived copy).

When is the last spring freeze?

The median last 32°F night is Apr 3, which gives a median freeze-free season of 212 days. There is still a 1-in-10 chance of a freezing night after Apr 20. A cautious household keeps the hose-bib valves shut until the third week of April rather than reopening them on the first warm weekend in March.

How many nights get cold enough to worry about pipes?

Sixteen nights a year drop to 20°F or lower, and three reach 10°F or lower. Those are the nights when pipes in a crawlspace, a garage or an outside wall are most likely to freeze. A night at or below 0°F is rare: the normal is 0.2 a year, about two such nights a decade.

The Red Cross gives no single outdoor temperature at which pipes freeze. It points instead to where pipes run: unheated crawl spaces and attics, garages, kitchen cabinets on outside walls, and the spot where the service line comes through the foundation. Our crawlspace pipes page covers the most common of those under Clarksville houses.

What should you do on a freeze night?

Let a thin stream of cold water run from any faucet fed by exposed pipes, open the sink cabinets on outside walls, and hold the thermostat at one setting day and night. The Red Cross accepts that a steady thermostat may cost more on the heating bill and says it can spare a far larger repair. Keep the garage door shut if supply lines run through the garage.

A dripping tap is metered like any other use. At CGW's inside-city rates from July 1, 2024, water and sewer together come to $12.59 per 1,000 gallons; how the CGW bill is built shows each charge. A few nights of dripping costs far less than a burst line.

The City of Toronto's short video below walks through the same steps. Its dripping threshold is a Toronto number, and the Red Cross sets no single one. In Clarksville, drip on hard-freeze nights and always on the 20°F nights in the chart above; exposed crawlspace lines can freeze above 20°F.

What if a pipe freezes anyway?

Suspect a frozen pipe when a faucet gives only a trickle. Leave that faucet open, then warm the cold section with an electric hair dryer, an electric heating pad or towels soaked in hot water, and keep going until full pressure returns. If you cannot find the frozen spot, cannot reach it, or cannot thaw it, call a licensed plumber.

After a thaw, check the other faucets, since one frozen pipe often means more. A meter reading a few hours apart with no water in use will show a hidden leak; the method is on our leaks on the meter page. If the house will sit empty in winter, see leaving the house empty before you go.