Clare County, MI Roof Snow Load - 28 psf
Clare County, MI roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Clare County is designed to carry 28 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 61.6 in. of fresh snow, 22.4 in. once it packs down, or 5.6 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. This is a meaningful design load - most modern-code homes handle it fine, though an addition, a carport or a flat-roofed section can be a weak spot.
Clare County, MI: quick facts
- Design roof snow load28 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map40 psf
- National rank#243 of 2,758
- Michigan rank#36 of 70
- Population31,405
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal48.5 in.
- FIPS26035
Where Clare County ranks
#36 of 70 Michigan counties by design load, top 9% of 2,758 nationally - that's Clare County's spot. That's 3.7 psf below Michigan's own county-average design load of 31.7 psf.
FIPS 26035, population 31,405, centered near 43.9911°N 84.8383°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 40 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 28 psf design figure above.
Clare County: average annual snowfall
Clare County sees about 48.5 in. of snow most winters, per the GLADWIN, MI US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Clare 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.