SnowLoadCheck

Cole County, MO Roof Snow Load - 20 psf

Cole County, MO: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English

Moderate
20 psf

Cole County's roofs are built to hold 20 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Cole County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 14 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.

In depth, not weight: that's roughly 44 inches of fresh, light snow, 16 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 4 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. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.

Cole County at a glance

Cole County by the numbers

Nationally that's #681 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 25%; within Missouri alone, Cole County ranks #12 of 115. That's 1.4 psf above Missouri's own county-average design load of 18.6 psf.

Cole County, FIPS 29051, is home to 77,625 people near 38.5032°N 92.28°W. Its 20 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 20 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.

Cole County's snowfall, most winters

16.5 in. a year: that's Cole County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at COLUMBIA RGNL AP, MO US (21.9 mi away). See the density guide.

Before you rely on Cole County's number

Treat the Cole 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. Details: the calculation guide.