Ice dam risk in Yelm, WA
How often ice dams form in Yelm
0.2 dam days a winter
Almost never. An ordinary house in Yelm sees 0.2 days a winter when an ice dam can form, because snow rarely stays on a roof long enough below freezing.
Yelm averages 4 inches of snow a year and about 2 days with snow on the ground. Too little lies on the roof for long. The conditions that make a dam need all three at once: snow, cold at the eave and heat above it.
Do you need to do anything in Yelm?
- Nothing for ice dams. If you are buying here and an inspector mentions water at the eaves, ask what they saw: it is far more likely a gutter, flashing or drip-edge problem than ice.
Snowy places are not always the worst: why snowfall misleads.
Yelm winter, month by month
| Month | Snow (in) | Days on ground | Dam days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| February | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
Yelm next to nearby towns
Yelm ranks 66 of 91 Washington cities here for ice-dam days, behind Spokane at 13.0 days.
- Lacey, WA 10 mi, 0.2 days
- Tumwater, WA 13 mi, 0.2 days
- Olympia, WA 14 mi, 0.2 days
- Lakewood, WA 16 mi, 0.5 days
- University Place, WA 19 mi, 0.5 days
Where these numbers come from
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals from Olympia Airport, 12.5 miles from Yelm. 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.