Ice dam risk in Hutchinson, KS
Ice dams in Hutchinson, KS: how often
3.4 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Hutchinson, conditions for an ice dam come on about 3.4 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Hutchinson averages 7 inches of snow a year and about 14 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 Hutchinson
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.5 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 3.4 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 4.6 | Low |
The attic matters less in Hutchinson than in colder towns: there are only 0.9 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Hutchinson 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.
Hutchinson winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.4 | 4.5 | 1.3 |
| February | 2.4 | 4.5 | 1.2 |
| March | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| December | 1.2 | 2.8 | 0.7 |
Hutchinson next to nearby towns
Hutchinson ranks 24 of 38 Kansas cities here for ice-dam days, behind Salina at 5.8 days.
- McPherson, KS 25 mi, 4.6 days
- Newton, KS 31 mi, 1.9 days
- Wichita, KS 40 mi, 2.6 days
- Bel Aire, KS 41 mi, 2.6 days
- Haysville, KS 46 mi, 2.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Hutchinson, 1.8 miles from Hutchinson. 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.