Ice dam risk in Redmond, OR
How often ice dams form in Redmond
3.4 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Redmond, conditions for an ice dam come on about 3.4 days in a normal winter, mostly in December and January.
Redmond averages 11 inches of snow a year and about 15 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 Redmond
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.8 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 3.4 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 4.1 | Low |
The attic matters less in Redmond than in colder towns: there are only 0.6 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Redmond
- 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.
Redmond winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.6 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
| February | 3.7 | 3.4 | 0.7 |
| March | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| April | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| December | 3.4 | 5.0 | 1.2 |
Redmond next to nearby towns
Redmond ranks 6 of 57 Oregon cities here for ice-dam days, behind Klamath Falls at 9.8 days.
- Bend, OR 15 mi, 3.5 days
- Prineville, OR 16 mi, 2.0 days
- Sweet Home, OR 76 mi, 0.0 days
- Lebanon, OR 87 mi, 0.0 days
- Springfield, OR 90 mi, 0.0 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Bend 7 NE, 9.9 miles from Redmond. 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.