Snowy Roof Collapse

A snowy roof may be picturesque but that snow buildup can put you at risk for collapse and for water damage from ice dams.

Snowy roof collapse.

In most cases excessive snow accumulation on a roof manifests itself in more subtle ways and causes gradual damage over time instead of a sudden calamity. A cubic foot of light snow weighs about 20 lbs. A powerful storm has dumped mounds of snow across the upper midwest closing highways canceling flights and collapsing the roof of the minnesota vikings st. A worker looks over the scene after heavy snow accumulation caused the roof of a two storey building to collapse saint jérôme leaving several people homeless on sunday.

This is a rough estimate when no information is available to analyze a roof properly. Snow roof collapses are rare thankfully this type of incident doesn t happen very often. However combine heavy snow with any of them and you may be in trouble. However a densely packed mixture of ice and snow can weigh as much as 60 lbs.

Robert champagne principal of summit engineering says that the best way to prevent a roof collapse from snow is to be proactive. The amount of snow or ice that is unsafe depends on the building design. Even an average amount of snow accumulated on a dairy barn roof can easily weigh 200. Winter storms in minnesota and other sections of the upper midwest can dump large amounts of snow and ice on agricultural building roofs which can lead to a roof collapse.