Cotton County, OK Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
Cotton County, OK: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Cotton County's roofs are built to hold 10 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 22 inches of fresh, light snow, 8 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 2 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. This is a modest add-on to standard roof loading - ordinary residential construction carries it without extra bracing.
Cotton County in numbers
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#2,042 of 2,758
- Oklahoma rank#68 of 77
- Population5,503
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal2.2 in.
- FIPS40033
Cotton County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,042 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 74%; within Oklahoma alone, Cotton County ranks #68 of 77. Oklahoma counties average 11 psf; Cotton County runs 1 psf lower than that.
Cotton County, FIPS 40033, is home to 5,503 people near 34.2907°N 98.3734°W. Its 10 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 10 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Cotton County's snowfall, most winters
2.2 in. a year: that's Cotton County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at WALTERS, OK US (6.4 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Cotton County's number
Treat the Cotton 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.