Ice dam risk in Española, NM
Ice dams in Española, NM: how often
1.8 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Española, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.8 days in a normal winter, mostly in December and January.
Española averages 11 inches of snow a year and about 7 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 Española
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.7 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.8 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.9 | Low |
The attic matters less in Española than in colder towns: there are only 0.1 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Española
- 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.
Española winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| February | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| March | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| December | 3.3 | 2.9 | 0.8 |
Española next to nearby towns
Española ranks 5 of 19 New Mexico cities here for ice-dam days, behind Gallup at 6.1 days.
- Santa Fe, NM 24 mi, 2.2 days
- Las Vegas, NM 55 mi, 2.8 days
- Rio Rancho, NM 61 mi, 0.7 days
- Albuquerque, NM 70 mi, 0.6 days
- Los Lunas, NM 92 mi, 0.3 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Alcalde, 6.0 miles from Española. 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 Española, so the snow figures may run high or low for the town itself.