Ice dam risk in Utica, NY
How often ice dams form in Utica
46.1 dam days a winter
Severe risk. On an ordinary house in Utica, conditions for an ice dam come on about 46.1 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Utica averages 164 inches of snow a year and about 128 days with snow on the ground. Snow that lies that long is what turns a little attic heat into a ridge of ice at the eave. 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 Utica
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 18.5 | High |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 46.1 | Severe |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 80.5 | Severe |
Sealing and insulating a typical attic takes out about 27.5 days a winter here. It drops the risk from severe to high. An older house with a warm attic should expect closer to 80.5 days.
Preventing ice dams on a Utica roof
- Air-seal the attic floor: the gaps around the hatch, light fixtures, plumbing stacks and the top plates of interior walls. This is the fix that removes the cause, and it usually costs less than a season of contractor ice removal.
- Rake the bottom three or four feet of roof after any storm that leaves more than about six inches, from the ground with a roof rake.
- At the next reroof, ask for ice-and-water membrane under the shingles from the eave to at least 24 inches inside the wall line. It does not stop a dam; it stops the leak when one forms.
- Heat cable is worth pricing here even on a sealed house, along the eave and in the gutters and downspouts it drains into.
Running 60 feet of 5 W/ft cable whenever snow lies below freezing would use about 496 kWh a winter in Utica, roughly $84 at 17 cents a kWh.
Which to spend on first: air sealing or heat cable.
Utica winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39.7 | 29.1 | 12.5 |
| February | 39.2 | 27.6 | 11.5 |
| March | 26.7 | 27.2 | 8.9 |
| April | 6.2 | 8.8 | 1.5 |
| May | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 15.5 | 9.9 | 2.4 |
| December | 35.1 | 24.3 | 9.3 |
Utica next to nearby towns
Utica ranks 1 of 90 New York cities here for ice-dam days, the worst in the state.
- Rome, NY 16 mi, 46.1 days
- Oneida, NY 23 mi, 27.3 days
- Gloversville, NY 45 mi, 24.7 days
- Oneonta, NY 45 mi, 28.1 days
- Syracuse, NY 46 mi, 23.9 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Boonville 4 SSW, 24.6 miles from Utica. 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.