Ice dam risk in Burlington, WA
Will your roof get ice dams in Burlington, WA?
0.3 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Burlington sees 0.3 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Burlington averages 6 inches of snow a year and about 4 days with snow on the ground. Too little lies on the roof for long. The conditions that make a dam need all three at once: snow, cold at the eave and heat above it.
Do you need to do anything in Burlington?
- Nothing for ice dams. If you are buying here and an inspector mentions water at the eaves, ask what they saw: it is far more likely a gutter, flashing or drip-edge problem than ice.
Snowy places are not always the worst: why snowfall misleads.
Burlington winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| February | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.1 |
Burlington next to nearby towns
Burlington ranks 38 of 91 Washington cities here for ice-dam days, behind Spokane at 13.0 days.
- Mount Vernon, WA 3 mi, 0.3 days
- Sedro-Woolley, WA 5 mi, 0.3 days
- Anacortes, WA 14 mi, 0.2 days
- Oak Harbor, WA 18 mi, 0.2 days
- Bellingham, WA 21 mi, 0.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Sedro-Woolley, 4.7 miles from Burlington. 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.