The Effects Heavy Snow has on Skylights.
The worst scenario that involves heavy snow is the collapse of the glazing that is intended to protect you from the elements. Fortunately, this is very rare and usually only happens when a skylight has been improperly designed.
Different parts of the country have different snow loads, such as Aspen, CO has an 80-LB snow load. If acrylic domes are designed too large they cannot handle the weight of the snow and can cause structural failure.
Another problem is when the snow causes an ice dam at the top of the curb mount skylight, which in effect shortens the height of the flashing. This will cause leaks when the snow melts rapidly if the “head” flashing is not high enough. This is simple to prevent if you are in a climate zone that has these kind of problems.
