Ice dam risk in Kingsport, TN
How often ice dams form in Kingsport
0.6 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Kingsport sees 0.6 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Kingsport averages 5 inches of snow a year and about 4 days with snow on the ground. Too little lies on the roof for long. The conditions that make a dam need all three at once: snow, cold at the eave and heat above it.
Do you need to do anything in Kingsport?
- Nothing for ice dams. If you are buying here and an inspector mentions water at the eaves, ask what they saw: it is far more likely a gutter, flashing or drip-edge problem than ice.
Snowy places are not always the worst: why snowfall misleads.
Kingsport winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
| February | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| March | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
Kingsport next to nearby towns
Kingsport ranks 11 of 65 Tennessee cities here for ice-dam days, behind Crossville at 2.6 days.
- Johnson City, TN 15 mi, 1.1 days
- Bristol, TN 18 mi, 1.2 days
- Elizabethton, TN 21 mi, 1.1 days
- Bristol, VA 22 mi, 1.2 days
- Greeneville, TN 29 mi, 1.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Kingsport, 0.9 miles from Kingsport. 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.