Ice dam risk in Madisonville, KY
How often ice dams form in Madisonville
0.6 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Madisonville sees 0.6 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Madisonville averages 4 inches of snow a year and about 3 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 Madisonville?
- 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.
Madisonville winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| February | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| March | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
Madisonville next to nearby towns
Madisonville ranks 37 of 42 Kentucky cities here for ice-dam days, behind Fort Thomas at 6.8 days.
- Hopkinsville, KY 35 mi, 0.1 days
- Henderson, KY 35 mi, 0.1 days
- Owensboro, KY 36 mi, 2.3 days
- Evansville, IN 45 mi, 1.6 days
- Clarksville, TN 54 mi, 0.1 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Calhoun Lock 2, 18.6 miles from Madisonville. 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.
- Snow-on-the-ground counts come from a second, nearby station, because the closest one does not record them.