SnowLoadCheck

Barnes County, ND Roof Snow Load - 28 psf

Barnes County, ND roof snow load, translated

Moderate
28 psf

A typical heated home in Barnes County is designed to carry 28 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.

On a roof that means 61.6 in. of fresh snow, 22.4 in. once it packs down, or 5.6 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. This is a meaningful design load - most modern-code homes handle it fine, though an addition, a carport or a flat-roofed section can be a weak spot.

Barnes County, ND: quick facts

Where Barnes County ranks

#18 of 49 North Dakota counties by design load, top 9% of 2,758 nationally - that's Barnes County's spot. North Dakota counties average 29.4 psf; Barnes County runs 1.4 psf lower than that.

FIPS 38003, population 10,798, centered near 46.9425°N 98.0702°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 40 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 28 psf design figure above.

Barnes County: average annual snowfall

Barnes County sees about 47.2 in. of snow most winters, per the LITCHVILLE 2NW, ND US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.

Read this before you use Barnes County's figure

The figure above assumes the case ASCE 7-22 treats as typical: a heated, ordinary-occupancy home on a partially exposed site. Change any of those - exposure, heating, roof pitch, occupancy category - and the real design number moves.

A building permit needs the number at your exact address, not the county average - the free ASCE 7 Hazard Tool returns that from your coordinates in about a minute and produces a PDF a plan reviewer will accept. See the methodology guide.