Ice dam risk in El Reno, OK
Ice dams in El Reno, OK: how often
0.5 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in El Reno sees 0.5 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
El Reno averages 4 inches of snow a year and about 3 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 El Reno?
- 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 Reno winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| February | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 |
| November | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
El Reno next to nearby towns
El Reno ranks 34 of 45 Oklahoma cities here for ice-dam days, behind Woodward at 2.0 days.
- Yukon, OK 11 mi, 0.8 days
- Mustang, OK 17 mi, 0.8 days
- Bethany, OK 18 mi, 0.8 days
- Warr Acres, OK 19 mi, 0.8 days
- Oklahoma City, OK 26 mi, 0.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from El Reno 1 N, 0.6 miles from El Reno. 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.
- Snow-on-the-ground counts come from a second, nearby station, because the closest one does not record them.