Ice dam risk in West Springfield Town, MA
Will your roof get ice dams in West Springfield Town, MA?
14.5 dam days a winter
Moderate risk. On an ordinary house in West Springfield Town, conditions for an ice dam come on about 14.5 days in a normal winter, mostly in February and January.
West Springfield Town averages 52 inches of snow a year and about 54 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 West Springfield Town
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 9.1 | Moderate |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 14.5 | Moderate |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 21.3 | High |
Sealing and insulating a typical attic takes out about 5.4 days a winter here. It does not move the risk band, but it shortens every dam. An older house with a warm attic should expect closer to 21.3 days.
Preventing ice dams on a West Springfield Town 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.
Which to spend on first: air sealing or heat cable.
West Springfield Town winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14.2 | 16.6 | 5.3 |
| February | 14.8 | 16.6 | 4.8 |
| March | 9.4 | 9.4 | 1.8 |
| April | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| December | 10.1 | 9.9 | 2.5 |
West Springfield Town next to nearby towns
West Springfield Town ranks 30 of 58 Massachusetts cities here for ice-dam days, behind Pittsfield at 31.3 days.
- Agawam Town, MA 4 mi, 16.6 days
- Chicopee, MA 5 mi, 16.4 days
- Westfield, MA 6 mi, 16.6 days
- Springfield, MA 6 mi, 14.5 days
- Holyoke, MA 6 mi, 15.9 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Hartford-Bradley International Airport, 13.1 miles from West Springfield Town. 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.
- Snow-on-the-ground counts come from a second, nearby station, because the closest one does not record them.