It sure is pretty, but dam that ice!
It’s winter here in Wisconsin—and a good, old fashioned winter at that. We’re getting record snowfalls, below zero temps and an occasional rain shower. Put this together with a poorly ventilated attic and you’ve got the inevitable ice dam. 
Can something so beautiful cause so much damage? Well, apparently so.
The University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension describes an ice dam as “a mass of ice forming at the bottom edge of a sloped roof. The ice results primarily from heat escaping to the attic from the house, causing a warm attic.”
With all the snow we’ve been getting, it’s accumulating heavily on our roofs. If this roof is warm, the snow melts, runs off the roof and into the eaves where it then refreezes. The real problem occurs when water backs up under the shingles and works its way into the house.
And so, here in Wisconsin, where we haven’t had to deal with this in years (global warming, don’tcha know), we’re working off the brats and beer by raking snow off our roofs.