Ice dam risk in Linden, NJ
How often ice dams form in Linden
4.2 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Linden, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.2 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Linden averages 32 inches of snow a year and about 22 days with snow on the ground. Plenty falls, but it tends to melt off between storms, which keeps the count lower than the snowfall suggests. That gap is why snowfall alone misleads.
What your attic does to that number in Linden
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 3.0 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.2 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 5.8 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Linden than in colder towns: there are only 1.2 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Linden 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.
The conditions that make a dam rarely line up here.
Linden winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.1 | 7.5 | 1.8 |
| February | 10.1 | 7.5 | 1.6 |
| March | 5.6 | 3.1 | 0.3 |
| April | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 5.4 | 3.1 | 0.5 |
Linden next to nearby towns
Linden ranks 93 of 116 New Jersey cities here for ice-dam days, behind Hopatcong at 14.7 days.
- Roselle, NJ 2 mi, 7.0 days
- Rahway, NJ 3 mi, 7.0 days
- Carteret, NJ 3 mi, 4.2 days
- Roselle Park, NJ 3 mi, 7.0 days
- Elizabeth, NJ 4 mi, 4.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Newark Liberty International Airport, 5.2 miles from Linden. 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.