What is Cold Air Damming?

news image
Special Stories
4 Jan 2024 4:30 PM

Icy, damp, cloudy, and cold weather. These are frequent scenes of winter… and they’re often the result of “cold air damming.” It’s a meteorological phenomenon that can last for several days, and even lead to dangerous ice storms!

Cold air damming is typically seen from October to April in numerous parts of the country, but it’s more commonly found east of the Appalachian Mountains.

Here’s how it works. During the winter months, cold high pressure systems swing in from Canada. This cold, dense air tends to dam, or get trapped, by the Appalachian Mountains. Meanwhile, a storm system nears and brings warmer, less dense air over the stagnant low-level cold layer. Once precipitation begins, if can fall as snow, sleet, or freezing rain…depending on the depth of the cold layer.

This kind of weather set-up can lead to thick ice, resulting in downed trees and loss of electricity, or just enough of an icy glaze to make travel slippery and hazardous. In stronger events, cold air damming can cause an icy mess as far south as Georgia and Alabama.

All Weather News
More
Severe Thunderstorms Possible Across the Plains This Weekend

Severe Thunderstorms Possible Across the Plains This Weekend

As a powerful upper-level trough moves into t

2 Oct 2025 11:34 PM
Precipitation Chances Out West

Precipitation Chances Out West

WEST - As a trough of low pressure lingers of

2 Oct 2025 11:10 PM
Heavy Rain Chances Return to Florida

Heavy Rain Chances Return to Florida

Thanks to Humberto, Imelda has moved away fro

2 Oct 2025 10:45 PM
Post-Tropical Imelda has Passed Bermuda

Post-Tropical Imelda has Passed Bermuda

Imelda is now a Post-Tropical Cyclone as it q

2 Oct 2025 10:40 PM
Tropical Storm Octave Spinning in the Pacific

Tropical Storm Octave Spinning in the Pacific

Tropical Storm Octave formed earlier on Tuesd

2 Oct 2025 10:30 PM
Fall Color Is Peaking in Parts of the Lower 48

Fall Color Is Peaking in Parts of the Lower 48

Grab the pumpkin spice and apple cider donuts

2 Oct 2025 10:05 AM
Humberto Merges with a Front in the Atlantic

Humberto Merges with a Front in the Atlantic

Tropical activity in the Atlantic has increas

1 Oct 2025 2:50 PM