Ice dam risk in El Dorado, KS
Will your roof get ice dams in El Dorado, KS?
0.8 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in El Dorado sees 0.8 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
El Dorado averages 5 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.
What your attic does to that number in El Dorado
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 0.6 | Very unlikely |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 0.8 | Very unlikely |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.1 | Low |
The attic matters less in El Dorado 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 El Dorado?
- 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.
El Dorado winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 |
| February | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| March | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| November | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
El Dorado next to nearby towns
El Dorado ranks 37 of 38 Kansas cities here for ice-dam days, behind Salina at 5.8 days.
- Andover, KS 17 mi, 2.8 days
- Bel Aire, KS 21 mi, 2.6 days
- Wichita, KS 28 mi, 2.6 days
- Derby, KS 28 mi, 2.8 days
- Newton, KS 30 mi, 1.9 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from El Dorado, 1.0 miles from El Dorado. 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.