Ice dam risk in Newton, KS
Ice dams in Newton, KS: how often
1.9 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Newton, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.9 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and December.
Newton averages 9 inches of snow a year and about 8 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 Newton
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.3 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.9 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 2.6 | Low |
The attic matters less in Newton than in colder towns: there are only 0.6 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Newton
- 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.
Newton winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.7 |
| February | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| March | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 3.2 | 2.2 | 0.6 |
Newton next to nearby towns
Newton ranks 35 of 38 Kansas cities here for ice-dam days, behind Salina at 5.8 days.
- Bel Aire, KS 19 mi, 2.6 days
- Wichita, KS 24 mi, 2.6 days
- Andover, KS 27 mi, 2.8 days
- McPherson, KS 29 mi, 4.6 days
- El Dorado, KS 30 mi, 0.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Newton, 1.2 miles from Newton. 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.