Bienville Parish, LA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Bienville Parish, LA?
5 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Bienville Parish to carry. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 5 psf - higher than the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 11 in. if it's fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles, or a mere 1 in. if it's ice. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Bienville Parish in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,358 of 2,758
- Louisiana rank#24 of 64
- Population12,412
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.1 in.
- FIPS22013
How Bienville Parish compares
5 psf ranks #2,358 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 85%) - and #24 of 64 in Louisiana. 2.4 psf is Louisiana's typical county figure - Bienville Parish beats it by 2.6 psf.
Population 12,412 (FIPS 22013), roughly 32.341°N 93.0412°W. The 5 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 5 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Bienville Parish, LA
NOAA's 30-year normal for Bienville Parish: 0.1 in. of snow a year, from the SAILES FIRE TWR, LA US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Bienville Parish figure assumes
This is a county-level reference figure for a typical heated home built to Risk Category II (ordinary residential), on a partially exposed lot - the assumptions ASCE 7-22 itself treats as the default case. A steeper roof, a fully exposed hilltop lot, an unheated structure, or a higher risk category all change the actual number.
Bienville Parish's permit office wants an address-specific figure, not this county average - the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool is free, takes under a minute, and outputs a PDF most reviewers accept. See the methodology guide.