Snow Issues and Roofs
Roof Online Staff
Note the ice dam forming and the deforming gutter. 
Note the ice dam forming and the deforming gutter.
Related Pages
Useful Links for Information on Roofs and Snow Issues
1. General: “Prevent Roof Damage from Heavy Snow and Ice” is a brief overview article produced by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
2. General: “Snow Load Safety Guide” is a useful and fairly detailed article produced by FEMA as a part of their Risk Management Series.
3. General: The Building Failures Forum is a great source of information. See their page “Snow Load Code Development and Building Failures and Investigations“.
4. Codes: See “Section 1608 Snow Loads“ in the 2018 International Building Code for snow-load-related design considerations. Available on the UpCodes website.
5. Technical: To find the ground snow load for a specific location, see the Hazards by Location page at the website of the Applied Technology Council.
6. Technical: Design: “Considerations For Building Design In Cold Climates” from the Whole Building Design Guide is definitely worth a look. (This page seems to have disappeared as of 7/2/20. We’ll leave the link up in case it comes back.)
7. Technical: Design: “Minimizing the Adverse Effects of Snow and Ice on Roofs” is a design-oriented article from 2001 available at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center website. It’s not overly technical and provides a good overview of snow and ice issues.
8. Technical:”Snow-Induced Roof Failures and Prevention Methods” by Alyssa Stangl is an easy-to-follow technical discussion of the subject. The paper is from from 2013 and is also available on the Building Failures Forum site.
