Ice dam risk in Lexington-Fayette urban county, KY
How often ice dams form in Lexington-Fayette urban county
2.4 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Lexington-Fayette urban county, conditions for an ice dam come on about 2.4 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Lexington-Fayette urban county averages 15 inches of snow a year and about 12 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 Lexington-Fayette urban county
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.6 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 2.4 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 3.4 | Low |
The attic matters less in Lexington-Fayette urban county than in colder towns: there are only 0.8 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Lexington-Fayette urban county
- 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.
Lexington-Fayette urban county winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.7 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
| February | 4.5 | 4.0 | 0.8 |
| March | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| April | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.9 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
Lexington-Fayette urban county next to nearby towns
Lexington-Fayette urban county ranks 10 of 42 Kentucky cities here for ice-dam days, behind Fort Thomas at 6.8 days.
- Nicholasville, KY 12 mi, 2.4 days
- Versailles, KY 15 mi, 2.4 days
- Winchester, KY 15 mi, 1.6 days
- Paris, KY 15 mi, 1.6 days
- Georgetown, KY 16 mi, 2.4 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Lexington Bluegrass Airport, 8.3 miles from Lexington-Fayette urban county. 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.