Ice dam risk in Shively, KY
How often ice dams form in Shively
2.0 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Shively, conditions for an ice dam come on about 2.0 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Shively averages 13 inches of snow a year and about 11 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 Shively
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 1.4 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 2.0 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 2.8 | Low |
The attic matters less in Shively 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 Shively
- 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.
Shively winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.5 | 4.6 | 1.0 |
| February | 4.1 | 3.3 | 0.6 |
| March | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.4 |
Shively next to nearby towns
Shively ranks 26 of 42 Kentucky cities here for ice-dam days, behind Fort Thomas at 6.8 days.
- New Albany, IN 8 mi, 2.1 days
- Clarksville, IN 9 mi, 2.1 days
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY 9 mi, 2.3 days
- St. Matthews, KY 10 mi, 2.0 days
- Jeffersonville, IN 11 mi, 2.1 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Louisville International Airport, 4.7 miles from Shively. 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.