Ice dam risk in Branson, MO
Will your roof get ice dams in Branson, MO?
1.5 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Branson, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.5 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and December.
Branson averages 7 inches of snow a year and about 7 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 Branson
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.2 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.5 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.8 | Low |
The attic matters less in Branson than in colder towns: there are only 0.3 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Branson roof
- 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.
Branson winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.3 | 2.9 | 0.7 |
| February | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
| March | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
Branson next to nearby towns
Branson ranks 73 of 80 Missouri cities here for ice-dam days, behind Maryville at 9.3 days.
- Harrison, AR 27 mi, 0.3 days
- Ozark, MO 29 mi, 3.9 days
- Nixa, MO 30 mi, 2.8 days
- Republic, MO 39 mi, 2.7 days
- Springfield, MO 40 mi, 2.7 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Ozark Beach 2 NNE, 11.4 miles from Branson. 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.