Ice dam risk in Pasco, WA
How often ice dams form in Pasco
0.3 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Pasco sees 0.3 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Pasco averages 2 inches of snow a year and about 2 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 Pasco?
- 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.
Pasco winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| February | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| March | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
Pasco next to nearby towns
Pasco ranks 29 of 91 Washington cities here for ice-dam days, behind Spokane at 13.0 days.
- Kennewick, WA 5 mi, 0.3 days
- Richland, WA 8 mi, 0.3 days
- West Richland, WA 13 mi, 0.3 days
- Hermiston, OR 31 mi, 2.6 days
- Grandview, WA 38 mi, 5.5 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Ice Harbor Dam, 11.7 miles from Pasco. 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.
- The nearest weather station sits at a noticeably different elevation from Pasco, so the snow figures may run high or low for the town itself.