Ice dam risk in Nixa, MO
Ice dams in Nixa, MO: how often
2.8 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Nixa, conditions for an ice dam come on about 2.8 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Nixa averages 7 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 Nixa
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.2 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 2.8 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 3.7 | Low |
The attic matters less in Nixa 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 Nixa
- 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.
Nixa winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.8 | 5.4 | 1.4 |
| February | 3.2 | 2.9 | 0.7 |
| March | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| December | 0.4 | 2.9 | 0.6 |
Nixa next to nearby towns
Nixa ranks 60 of 80 Missouri cities here for ice-dam days, behind Maryville at 9.3 days.
- Ozark, MO 4 mi, 3.9 days
- Springfield, MO 10 mi, 2.7 days
- Republic, MO 11 mi, 2.7 days
- Branson, MO 30 mi, 1.5 days
- Monett, MO 36 mi, 2.0 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Ozark, 3.9 miles from Nixa. 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.