Coosa County, AL Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Coosa County
That's Coosa County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. The physics-based figure alone would be 3.5 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 5 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 11 in. of fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 1 in. if it's turned to ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Coosa County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,379 of 2,758
- Alabama rank#53 of 67
- Population10,291
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.7 in.
- FIPS01037
Where Coosa County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Coosa County sits at #2,379, the top 86% nationally - #53 of 67 within Alabama. 5.6 psf is Alabama's typical county figure - Coosa County comes in 0.6 psf under it.
Near 32.9314°N 86.2435°W, FIPS 01037: Coosa County counts 10,291 residents and a 5 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 5 psf.
How much it actually snows in Coosa County
Most winters bring Coosa County roughly 0.7 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at ALEXANDER CITY, AL US, 17.2 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Coosa County's number above is ASCE 7-22's default case, not a custom calculation: ordinary residential occupancy, heated, sited on ground that's neither fully sheltered nor fully exposed. Any one of those changing - pitch, exposure, heating, occupancy - moves the real figure.
Nothing here substitutes for an address-level number. Get one free, in about a minute, from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool using your own coordinates rather than Coosa County's county-wide figure. Details: the calculation guide.