Should we be concerned with the amount of snow on our roofs?
Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - Our deep snowpack has many home owners concerned about snow building up on roofs. But just how much weight is there to the snow and is it something that all homeowners should worry about? Stormtracker Meteorologist Rob Kupec has the details.
- Snowy Roof
We have 18-inches of snow on the ground in F-M. But the amount of snow on your roof will vary a lot, depending on where your house is located. So we thought the easiest way to figure out the weight of that snow, would be to weight a cubic foot of snow. When we put our snow on the scale we found it weighed around 12 pounds. So is this amount of snow weight on roofs something home owners should be concerned with?
ROBERT DURA - Engineer: “The average residential, they're designed for about 18 inches of snow. Beyond that an area of concern would be where you've got varying roof heights. It will generally collect a drift on the lower roof. But those drift heights two to three feet before I'd be too concerned.”
Removing snow from your roof can also have other benefits such as reducing ice dams and preventing leakage around vents and skylights. Newer homes can handle 20 cubic pounds of snow, but people with older homes and flatter roofs need to be more vigilant of snow build up.
Tags: reporter stories, rob kupec, fargo, home, snow, weather
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