Brooke County, WV Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Brooke County, WV roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Brooke County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. 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.
On a roof that means 44 in. of fresh snow, 16 in. once it packs down, or 4 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.
Brooke County, WV: quick facts
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#942 of 2,758
- West Virginia rank#18 of 34
- Population21,285
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal31.9 in.
- FIPS54009
Where Brooke County ranks
#18 of 34 West Virginia counties by design load, top 34% of 2,758 nationally - that's Brooke County's spot. Brooke County's figure lands almost exactly on West Virginia's own county-average of 20 psf.
FIPS 54009, population 21,285, centered near 40.2726°N 80.5787°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 25 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Brooke County: average annual snowfall
Brooke County sees about 31.9 in. of snow most winters, per the WASHINGTON 3 NE, PA US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Brooke 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. Details: the calculation guide.