Ice dam risk in Covington, KY
Ice dams in Covington, KY: how often
4.9 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Covington, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.9 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Covington averages 23 inches of snow a year and about 22 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 Covington
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 3.1 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.9 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 7.1 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Covington than in colder towns: there are only 1.8 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Covington
- 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.
Covington winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.7 | 7.9 | 2.1 |
| February | 6.7 | 6.4 | 1.5 |
| March | 3.4 | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| April | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| December | 4.1 | 4.2 | 0.9 |
Covington next to nearby towns
Covington ranks 3 of 42 Kentucky cities here for ice-dam days, behind Fort Thomas at 6.8 days.
- Newport, KY 4 mi, 6.8 days
- Erlanger, KY 4 mi, 4.9 days
- Fort Thomas, KY 5 mi, 6.8 days
- Independence, KY 6 mi, 4.9 days
- Cincinnati, OH 7 mi, 6.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky I, 8.2 miles from Covington. 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.