Ice dam risk in Sand Springs, OK
Will your roof get ice dams in Sand Springs, OK?
0.9 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Sand Springs sees 0.9 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Sand Springs averages 9 inches of snow a year and about 6 days with snow on the ground. Too little lies on the roof for long. 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 Sand Springs
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 0.8 | Very unlikely |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 0.9 | Very unlikely |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 1.1 | Low |
The attic matters less in Sand Springs than in colder towns: there are only 0.1 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Do you need to do anything in Sand Springs?
- Nothing for ice dams. If you are buying here and an inspector mentions water at the eaves, ask what they saw: it is far more likely a gutter, flashing or drip-edge problem than ice.
Snowy places are not always the worst: why snowfall misleads.
Sand Springs winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.9 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
| February | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| March | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
Sand Springs next to nearby towns
Sand Springs ranks 16 of 45 Oklahoma cities here for ice-dam days, behind Woodward at 2.0 days.
- Sapulpa, OK 9 mi, 0.9 days
- Tulsa, OK 13 mi, 0.9 days
- Jenks, OK 13 mi, 0.9 days
- Glenpool, OK 15 mi, 0.9 days
- Bixby, OK 19 mi, 0.9 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Tulsa International Airport, 14.8 miles from Sand Springs. 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.