Ice dam risk in Gladstone, MO
How often ice dams form in Gladstone
4.7 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Gladstone, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.7 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Gladstone averages 11 inches of snow a year and about 21 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 Gladstone
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 3.0 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.7 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 6.8 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Gladstone than in colder towns: there are only 1.7 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Gladstone 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.
Gladstone winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.4 | 8.0 | 2.3 |
| February | 3.2 | 5.0 | 1.1 |
| March | 0.4 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| April | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| December | 3.5 | 4.7 | 1.1 |
Gladstone next to nearby towns
Gladstone ranks 18 of 80 Missouri cities here for ice-dam days, behind Maryville at 9.3 days.
- Kansas City, MO 6 mi, 4.5 days
- Liberty, MO 8 mi, 5.2 days
- Kansas City, KS 12 mi, 4.4 days
- Smithville, MO 13 mi, 5.2 days
- Mission, KS 14 mi, 4.4 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Kansas City Dwtn Airport, 6.1 miles from Gladstone. 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.