Beaufort County, NC Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
Beaufort County, NC: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Beaufort County's roofs are built to hold 10 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 22 inches of fresh, light snow, 8 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 2 inches of solid ice - snow that heavy is rare here but ice from a freeze-thaw cycle adds up far faster than the depth suggests. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Beaufort County at a glance
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,791 of 2,758
- North Carolina rank#75 of 100
- Population44,576
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.2 in.
- FIPS37013
Beaufort County by the numbers
Nationally that's #1,791 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 65%; within North Carolina alone, Beaufort County ranks #75 of 100. That's 2.9 psf below North Carolina's own county-average design load of 12.9 psf.
Beaufort County, FIPS 37013, is home to 44,576 people near 35.4823°N 76.842°W. Its 10 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 10 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Beaufort County's snowfall, most winters
0.2 in. a year: that's Beaufort County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at AURORA 6 N, NC US (7.5 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Beaufort County's number
Treat the Beaufort County figure as a starting point, not a final answer: it assumes standard occupancy, a heated structure and a moderately sheltered site, per ASCE 7-22's own defaults. Exposed terrain, an unheated building or a steeper roof all shift the real number.
For a real application, skip the county number and go straight to the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool - enter your coordinates and it returns a site-specific figure a plan reviewer will recognize. Details: the calculation guide.