Ice dam risk in Wheeling, WV
How often ice dams form in Wheeling
4.4 dam days a winter
Low risk. On an ordinary house in Wheeling, conditions for an ice dam come on about 4.4 days in a normal winter, mostly in January and February.
Wheeling averages 15 inches of snow a year and about 17 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 Wheeling
| Attic | Dam days | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Air-sealed and well insulated | 2.6 | Low |
| Typical, some insulation, not air-sealed | 4.4 | Low |
| Older or poorly insulated, warm attic | 6.8 | Moderate |
The attic matters less in Wheeling than in colder towns: there are only 1.8 days a winter between a typical attic and a sealed one.
What to do about ice dams in Wheeling
- 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.
Wheeling winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.3 | 7.2 | 2.1 |
| February | 4.4 | 5.0 | 1.3 |
| March | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| April | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 2.6 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
Wheeling next to nearby towns
Wheeling ranks 7 of 13 West Virginia cities here for ice-dam days, behind Weirton at 10.4 days.
- Steubenville, OH 20 mi, 4.4 days
- Weirton, WV 24 mi, 10.4 days
- Washington, PA 25 mi, 11.6 days
- Bethel Park, PA 39 mi, 11.6 days
- Whitehall, PA 42 mi, 8.8 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Pike Island(Lock & Dam), 5.1 miles from Wheeling. 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.