Ice dam risk in Radford, VA
How often ice dams form in Radford
4.3 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Radford, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.3 days in a normal winter, mostly in February and January.
Radford averages 22 inches of snow a year and about 20 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 Radford
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 3.2 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.3 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 5.7 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Radford than in colder towns: there are only 1.1 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Radford
- 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.
Radford winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.3 | 6.3 | 1.6 |
| February | 6.6 | 6.6 | 1.5 |
| March | 3.7 | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| April | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 4.4 | 4.7 | 1.0 |
Radford next to nearby towns
Radford ranks 6 of 39 Virginia cities here for ice-dam days, behind Winchester at 4.7 days.
- Christiansburg, VA 9 mi, 4.3 days
- Blacksburg, VA 11 mi, 4.5 days
- Salem, VA 30 mi, 1.7 days
- Roanoke, VA 35 mi, 1.7 days
- Mount Airy, NC 42 mi, 1.1 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Christiansburg, 8.6 miles from Radford. 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.