SnowLoadCheck

Benton County, IA Roof Snow Load - 20 psf

What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Benton County

Moderate
20 psf

That's Benton County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 20 psf - higher than the 17.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.

Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 44 in. of fresh powder, 16 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 4 in. if it's turned to ice. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.

Already snow on the roof in Benton County?

in. of

Benton County in numbers

Where Benton County's figure sits nationally

Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Benton County sits at #903, the top 33% nationally - #60 of 99 within Iowa. 21.7 psf is Iowa's typical county figure - Benton County comes in 1.7 psf under it.

Near 42.0925°N 92.0576°W, FIPS 19011: Benton County counts 25,799 residents and a 25 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 20 psf.

How much it actually snows in Benton County

Most winters bring Benton County roughly 33.6 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at VINTON, IA US, 5.9 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

Read this before you rely on it

Benton County's number above is ASCE 7-22's default case, not a custom calculation: ordinary residential occupancy, heated, sited on ground that's neither fully sheltered nor fully exposed. Any one of those changing - pitch, exposure, heating, occupancy - moves the real figure.

Nothing here substitutes for an address-level number. Get one free, in about a minute, from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool using your own coordinates rather than Benton County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)