Cedar County, IA Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Cedar County, IA roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Cedar County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. §7.3.4's low-slope minimum of 20 psf is what actually governs on a flat or low-pitch roof here - higher than the 17.5 psf the base ground-load formula gives.
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.
Cedar County at a glance
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#980 of 2,758
- Iowa rank#68 of 99
- Population18,231
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal39.8 in.
- FIPS19031
Where Cedar County ranks
#68 of 99 Iowa counties by design load, top 36% of 2,758 nationally - that's Cedar County's spot. 21.7 psf is Iowa's typical county figure - Cedar County comes in 1.7 psf under it.
FIPS 19031, population 18,231, centered near 41.7724°N 91.1326°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.
Cedar County: average annual snowfall
Cedar County sees about 39.8 in. of snow most winters, per the LOWDEN, IA US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Cedar 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.