Brazos County, TX Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Brazos County, TX: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Brazos County's roofs are built to hold 5 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Brazos County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 11 inches of fresh, light snow, 4 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 1 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. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Brazos County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,092 of 2,758
- Texas rank#51 of 254
- Population249,624
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0 in.
- FIPS48041
Brazos County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,092 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 76%; within Texas alone, Brazos County ranks #51 of 254. 5.4 psf is Texas's typical county figure - Brazos County comes in 0.4 psf under it.
Brazos County, FIPS 48041, is home to 249,624 people near 30.6567°N 96.3024°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Brazos County's snowfall, most winters
0 in. a year: that's Brazos County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at CALDWELL, TX US (25.3 mi away). That station is far enough away (25.3 mi) that local snowfall - especially at a different elevation or near a lake - can run noticeably higher or lower than this figure. See the density guide.
Before you rely on Brazos County's number
Treat the Brazos 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. See the methodology guide.