Ice dam risk in Oak Ridge, TN
Ice dams in Oak Ridge, TN: how often
0.6 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Oak Ridge sees 0.6 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Oak Ridge averages 4 inches of snow a year and about 4 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 Oak Ridge?
- 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.
Oak Ridge winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
| February | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| March | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
Oak Ridge next to nearby towns
Oak Ridge ranks 12 of 65 Tennessee cities here for ice-dam days, behind Crossville at 2.6 days.
- Farragut, TN 9 mi, 0.3 days
- Lenoir City, TN 10 mi, 0.3 days
- Clinton, TN 13 mi, 0.6 days
- Knoxville, TN 19 mi, 0.5 days
- Alcoa, TN 21 mi, 0.5 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Oak Ridge Atdd, 4.5 miles from Oak Ridge. 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.