Cape May County, NJ Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Cape May County, NJ roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Cape May County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. The physics-based figure alone would be 14 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 20 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
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.
Cape May County, NJ: quick facts
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#660 of 2,758
- New Jersey rank#16 of 17
- Population93,875
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal17.4 in.
- FIPS34009
Where Cape May County ranks
#16 of 17 New Jersey counties by design load, top 24% of 2,758 nationally - that's Cape May County's spot. That's 0.1 psf below New Jersey's own county-average design load of 20.1 psf.
FIPS 34009, population 93,875, centered near 39.0858°N 74.8464°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 20 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Cape May County: average annual snowfall
Cape May County sees about 17.4 in. of snow most winters, per the ATLANTIC CITY INTL AP, NJ US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. 29.2 mi is a real gap between Cape May County and its nearest reporting station, so local snowfall can diverge from this figure, especially near elevation changes. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Cape May 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. See the methodology guide.