We recently bought a home in western NY, where lake-effect snows are common. I've got 1-2.5 feet of snow on my roof right now and the prediction is for much warmer temps (it's been in the single digits for several days and is heading up to nearly 40F in a couple days!).
We've had some sun/warm over the last few days and my roof shows no sign of major--or even minor--ice build-up (though gutters are full/frozen). The attic is well insulated & ventilated and there's no sign of previous ice-damming inside or out.
I grew up in the Finger Lakes area south of Canandaigua and we never touched the snow on the roof. I raked snow from my former Idaho home, but it was mostly because of a slope break in the roof and concern for weight. This home was very well built (Chautauqua County NY) about 7 years ago.
If you can do it safely, and feel like a little exercise/outdoor time...I say go for it. I shovel mine off (some of it) even thoughs its probably not necessary, but I sometimes get 4-6 foot deep snow drifts on parts of the roof, and you never know when it might suddenly warm up enough to get a freezing rain and then quickly freeze up again. I am not so much worried about the ice dams (I have put on those electric defrosters in key places), but seems to me 4-6 feet of snow, soaking up rain like a sponge and then freezing again has got to weigh an awful lot. My feeling is better safe than sorry.
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