Ice dam risk in Olive Branch, MS
How often ice dams form in Olive Branch
0.2 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Olive Branch sees 0.2 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Olive Branch averages 2 inches of snow a year and about 1 day 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 Olive Branch?
- 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.
Olive Branch winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| February | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Olive Branch next to nearby towns
Olive Branch ranks 2 of 41 Mississippi cities here for ice-dam days, behind Southaven at 0.2 days.
- Southaven, MS 8 mi, 0.2 days
- Germantown, TN 9 mi, 0.4 days
- Collierville, TN 10 mi, 0.2 days
- Hernando, MS 11 mi, 0.2 days
- Horn Lake, MS 12 mi, 0.2 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Olive Branch, 0.7 miles from Olive Branch. 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.