Ice dam risk in Dumas, TX
Will your roof get ice dams in Dumas, TX?
1.0 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Dumas sees 1.0 day a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Dumas averages 9 inches of snow a year and about 5 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.
What your attic does to that number in Dumas
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 0.8 | Very unlikely |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.0 | Very unlikely |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.1 | Low |
The attic matters less in Dumas than in colder towns: there are only 0.2 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Do you need to do anything in Dumas?
- 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.
Dumas winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| February | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| March | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| December | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 |
Dumas next to nearby towns
Dumas ranks 7 of 252 Texas cities here for ice-dam days, behind Pampa at 2.6 days.
- Borger, TX 35 mi, 1.5 days
- Amarillo, TX 46 mi, 2.0 days
- Pampa, TX 60 mi, 2.6 days
- Canyon, TX 60 mi, 1.0 days
- Guymon, OK 63 mi, 0.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Dumas, 0.9 miles from Dumas. 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.