Ice dam risk in Fort Lee, NJ
Will your roof get ice dams in Fort Lee, NJ?
4.3 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Fort Lee, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.3 days in a normal winter, mostly in February and January.
Fort Lee averages 30 inches of snow a year and about 24 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 Fort Lee
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.8 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.3 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 6.2 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Fort Lee than in colder towns: there are only 1.5 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Fort Lee
- 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.
Fort Lee winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.8 | 7.9 | 1.8 |
| February | 10.1 | 9.1 | 1.8 |
| March | 5.0 | 4.0 | 0.4 |
| April | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 4.9 | 2.9 | 0.4 |
Fort Lee next to nearby towns
Fort Lee ranks 75 of 116 New Jersey cities here for ice-dam days, behind Hopatcong at 14.7 days.
- Palisades Park, NJ 1 mi, 4.3 days
- Edgewater, NJ 2 mi, 4.3 days
- Cliffside Park, NJ 2 mi, 4.3 days
- Ridgefield, NJ 3 mi, 4.3 days
- Ridgefield Park, NJ 3 mi, 4.3 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Ny City Cntrl Park, 5.0 miles from Fort Lee. 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.