Ice dam risk in Cottonwood, AZ
Ice dams in Cottonwood, AZ: how often
0.0 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Cottonwood sees 0.0 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Cottonwood averages 1 inch of snow a year and about 0 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 Cottonwood?
- 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.
Cottonwood winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Cottonwood next to nearby towns
Cottonwood ranks 41 of 44 Arizona cities here for ice-dam days, behind Flagstaff at 16.2 days.
- Camp Verde, AZ 14 mi, 0.0 days
- Prescott Valley, AZ 22 mi, 0.8 days
- Chino Valley, AZ 24 mi, 0.8 days
- Prescott, AZ 28 mi, 0.8 days
- Flagstaff, AZ 36 mi, 16.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Tuzigoot, 2.8 miles from Cottonwood. 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.
- The nearest weather station sits at a noticeably different elevation from Cottonwood, so the snow figures may run high or low for the town itself.