Ice dam risk in Heber, UT
Will your roof get ice dams in Heber, UT?
21.5 dam days a winter
High risk. On an ordinary house in Heber, conditions for an ice dam come on about 21.5 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Heber averages 75 inches of snow a year and about 75 days with snow on the ground. Snow that lies that long is what turns a little attic heat into a ridge of ice at the eave. 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 Heber
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 15.5 | High |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 21.5 | High |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 28.9 | High |
Sealing and insulating a typical attic takes out about 5.9 days a winter here. It does not move the risk band, but it shortens every dam. An older house with a warm attic should expect closer to 28.9 days.
What to do about ice dams in Heber
- Air-seal the attic floor: the gaps around the hatch, light fixtures, plumbing stacks and the top plates of interior walls. This is the fix that removes the cause, and it usually costs less than a season of contractor ice removal.
- Rake the bottom three or four feet of roof after any storm that leaves more than about six inches, from the ground with a roof rake.
- At the next reroof, ask for ice-and-water membrane under the shingles from the eave to at least 24 inches inside the wall line. It does not stop a dam; it stops the leak when one forms.
- Heat cable is worth pricing here even on a sealed house, along the eave and in the gutters and downspouts it drains into.
Running 60 feet of 5 W/ft cable whenever snow lies below freezing would use about 107 kWh a winter in Heber, roughly $18 at 17 cents a kWh.
Which to spend on first: air sealing or heat cable.
Heber winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21.5 | 23.9 | 7.5 |
| February | 13.9 | 20.5 | 5.6 |
| March | 6.7 | 7.3 | 1.6 |
| April | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 8.6 | 5.3 | 1.2 |
| December | 17.8 | 18.1 | 5.5 |
Heber next to nearby towns
Heber ranks 8 of 67 Utah cities here for ice-dam days, behind Ogden at 37.2 days.
- Alpine, UT 21 mi, 17.0 days
- Pleasant Grove, UT 22 mi, 8.2 days
- Lindon, UT 22 mi, 8.2 days
- Highland, UT 23 mi, 17.0 days
- Cottonwood Heights, UT 23 mi, 16.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Heber, 4.0 miles from Heber. 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.