Ice dam risk in Salina, KS
Will your roof get ice dams in Salina, KS?
5.8 dam days a winter
Moderate risk. On an ordinary house in Salina, conditions for an ice dam come on about 5.8 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and December.
Salina averages 18 inches of snow a year and about 23 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 Salina
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 4.0 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 5.8 | Moderate |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 8.0 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Salina than in colder towns: there are only 1.8 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Salina
- 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.
Salina winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.7 | 7.1 | 2.1 |
| February | 3.4 | 6.0 | 1.5 |
| March | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.2 |
| April | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| December | 4.5 | 6.3 | 1.7 |
Salina next to nearby towns
Salina ranks 1 of 38 Kansas cities here for ice-dam days, the worst in the state.
- McPherson, KS 31 mi, 4.6 days
- Junction City, KS 44 mi, 5.7 days
- Hutchinson, KS 54 mi, 3.4 days
- Newton, KS 56 mi, 1.9 days
- Manhattan, KS 60 mi, 5.4 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Minneapolis, 22.1 miles from Salina. 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.