Ice dam risk in Show Low, AZ
How often ice dams form in Show Low
2.4 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Show Low, conditions for an ice dam come on about 2.4 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and December.
Show Low averages 19 inches of snow a year and about 12 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 Show Low
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.1 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 2.4 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 2.7 | Low |
The attic matters less in Show Low than in colder towns: there are only 0.3 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
Preventing ice dams on a Show Low roof
- 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.
Show Low winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.0 | 4.5 | 1.0 |
| February | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| March | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| April | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| December | 5.4 | 3.9 | 0.9 |
Show Low next to nearby towns
Show Low ranks 2 of 44 Arizona cities here for ice-dam days, behind Flagstaff at 16.2 days.
- Payson, AZ 73 mi, 1.0 days
- Safford, AZ 101 mi, 0.0 days
- Apache Junction, AZ 106 mi, 0.0 days
- Camp Verde, AZ 106 mi, 0.0 days
- Fountain Hills, AZ 108 mi, 0.0 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Show Low Airport, 1.8 miles from Show Low. 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.