Ice dam risk in Arkansas City, KS
How often ice dams form in Arkansas City
1.9 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Arkansas City, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.9 days in a normal winter, mostly in December and January.
Arkansas City averages 9 inches of snow a year and about 9 days with snow on the ground. Most of it comes and goes within a few days. The conditions that make a dam need all three at once: snow, cold at the eave and heat above it.
What your attic does to that number in Arkansas City
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.4 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.9 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 2.5 | Low |
The attic matters less in Arkansas City than in colder towns: there are only 0.5 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Arkansas City
- Check the gutters before the first snow and clear them, so meltwater has somewhere to go. If you see icicles thicker than a finger along the eave after a storm, that is the early sign to look at the attic.
Snowy places are not always the worst: why snowfall misleads.
Arkansas City winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.4 | 2.5 | 0.6 |
| February | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| March | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 2.6 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
Arkansas City next to nearby towns
Arkansas City ranks 36 of 38 Kansas cities here for ice-dam days, behind Salina at 5.8 days.
- Winfield, KS 12 mi, 2.0 days
- Ponca City, OK 24 mi, 1.5 days
- Derby, KS 36 mi, 2.8 days
- Haysville, KS 38 mi, 2.8 days
- Andover, KS 43 mi, 2.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Newkirk 5NE, 9.3 miles from Arkansas City. A dam day is a day with snow on the roof and freezing at the eave while heat or sun melts the snow above it. This describes a normal winter, not this one.