Ice dam risk in Richmond, VA
Ice dams in Richmond, VA: how often
1.1 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Richmond, conditions for an ice dam come on about 1.1 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Richmond averages 9 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 Richmond
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.0 | Very unlikely |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 1.1 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.3 | Low |
The attic matters less in Richmond than in colder towns: there are only 0.1 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Richmond
- 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.
Richmond winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.7 | 3.1 | 0.6 |
| February | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.3 |
| March | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
Richmond next to nearby towns
Richmond ranks 24 of 39 Virginia cities here for ice-dam days, behind Winchester at 4.7 days.
- Colonial Heights, VA 19 mi, 0.1 days
- Hopewell, VA 19 mi, 0.1 days
- Petersburg, VA 23 mi, 0.1 days
- Williamsburg, VA 46 mi, 0.6 days
- Fredericksburg, VA 53 mi, 1.6 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Richmond International Airport, 8.5 miles from Richmond. 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.