Ice dam risk in Pueblo, CO
How often ice dams form in Pueblo
1.7 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Pueblo, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.7 days in a normal winter, mostly in December and January.
Pueblo averages 15 inches of snow a year and about 7 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 Pueblo
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.4 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.7 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 2.0 | Low |
The attic matters less in Pueblo than in colder towns: there are only 0.3 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Pueblo
- 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.
Pueblo winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 |
| February | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.4 |
| March | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| November | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| December | 3.0 | 1.8 | 0.5 |
Pueblo next to nearby towns
Pueblo ranks 53 of 53 Colorado cities here for ice-dam days, behind Steamboat Springs at 51.0 days.
- Fountain, CO 29 mi, 5.4 days
- Cañon City, CO 35 mi, 5.6 days
- Colorado Springs, CO 42 mi, 5.4 days
- Monument, CO 57 mi, 22.2 days
- Castle Rock, CO 78 mi, 11.5 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Pueblo Rsvr, 5.8 miles from Pueblo. 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.