KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After several days of freezing temperatures, ice dams can form on your roof, potentially causing water leaks in your house.  “So the other day, my wife noticed something dripping from this electrical outlet. We took the plate off and noticed a constant drip from the wires. Then, we noticed some bubbling coming from the walls,” said Ryan Buhs, who recently experienced a water leak in his home due to an ice dam. “This one here was pretty big, and finally, it did release and kind of just started dripping down.” Winter Weather Advisory issued south of Kansas City metro An ice dam on the roof is to blame for the water leaks in the Buhs family's home. These happen when a ridge of ice forms at the roof's edge, stopping melting snow from properly draining.   “This one was the biggest issue here, I think, was just where the bubbles were coming up. The water was accumulating, and it had nowhere to go,” Buhs explained. “So we did the best we could with a bunch of towels. I think we had a load of 20 different towels that we had to put in there to try to soak it all up.” We asked Doug Stacye, Gutter Cover's president, how to prevent ice dams. He says the first place to look is your attic. “What a lot of people don't realize is that the ice dams you have actually start in the attic of the roof generally. So what happens is that there's not enough ventilation in the attic space,” Stacye said. “You want your attic to be the exact same temperature as it is outside. So, if it's 20 degrees outside, you want your attic space to be 20 degrees.” Insulation can help prevent heat from getting into your attic space. “So what happens is that the ice and snow start to melt because the roof heats up. Then, as it gets down towards the edge of the roof, it starts to refreeze, and it goes into your gutter, and then it starts to form a giant block of ice there, and then it pours over,” Stacye explained.  Icicles, while they look pretty, can signal a more significant issue on your roof and gutter.  Stacye says that if you can safely knock icicles off your home, that could help with water drainage. “Something that you could do is to get those out so that the water, as soon as the icicles fall off, can eventually start going into the gutter, and then the gutter will carry it away like it's supposed to,” Stacye said.  Questions, concerns after Jackson County public works employee killed Stacye says bathroom fans can also contribute to ice dams forming. “A lot of times, those will just vent straight into the attic space itself, which will heat up the attic space, too. You want to ensure those are vented outside instead of just straight up into the attic,” Stacye explained. Stacye says that once an ice dam has formed on your roof, there isn’t much you can do.  The Buhs family called a professional roofer to investigate when they noticed the water leak.  “The drainage was just not going anywhere. So it just starts going up and underneath the shingles. So ultimately, it was, you know, something we couldn't prevent, but something going forward, hopefully, we can kind of shore it up a little bit more, put a little bit more insulation in there to kind of stop some of the heat from melting that,” Buhs said.  Stacye said the best thing to do before a winter storm is to make sure your gutter is clean, and your attic is at the same temperature as it is outside.