Ice dam risk in Shasta Lake, CA
How often ice dams form in Shasta Lake
0.0 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Shasta Lake sees 0.0 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Shasta Lake averages 3 inches of snow a year and about 1 day 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.
Do you need to do anything in Shasta Lake?
- 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.
Shasta Lake winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
Shasta Lake next to nearby towns
Shasta Lake ranks 374 of 376 California cities here for ice-dam days, behind Truckee at 36.3 days.
- Redding, CA 7 mi, 0.0 days
- Anderson, CA 16 mi, 0.0 days
- Red Bluff, CA 36 mi, 0.0 days
- Chico, CA 70 mi, 0.0 days
- Arcata, CA 90 mi, 0.0 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Redding Airport, 12.0 miles from Shasta Lake. 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.
- The nearest weather station sits at a noticeably different elevation from Shasta Lake, so the snow figures may run high or low for the town itself.