Ice dam risk in Excelsior Springs, MO
How often ice dams form in Excelsior Springs
5.2 dam days a winter
Moderate risk. On an ordinary house in Excelsior Springs, conditions for an ice dam come on about 5.2 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Excelsior Springs averages 19 inches of snow a year and about 19 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 Excelsior Springs
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 3.3 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 5.2 | Moderate |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 7.6 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Excelsior Springs than in colder towns: there are only 1.9 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Excelsior Springs roof
- 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.
Excelsior Springs winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.0 | 6.7 | 2.1 |
| February | 6.5 | 5.5 | 1.5 |
| March | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| April | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| December | 4.6 | 4.6 | 1.3 |
Excelsior Springs next to nearby towns
Excelsior Springs ranks 15 of 80 Missouri cities here for ice-dam days, behind Maryville at 9.3 days.
- Kearney, MO 6 mi, 5.2 days
- Liberty, MO 12 mi, 5.2 days
- Smithville, MO 18 mi, 5.2 days
- Independence, MO 19 mi, 5.2 days
- Gladstone, MO 19 mi, 4.7 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Kearney 3E, 5.1 miles from Excelsior Springs. 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.