Dakota County, NE Roof Snow Load - 21 psf
Dakota County, NE roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Dakota County is designed to carry 21 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 46.2 in. of fresh snow, 16.8 in. once it packs down, or 4.2 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.
Got real snow on a Dakota County roof right now?
Dakota County in numbers
- Design roof snow load21 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map30 psf
- National rank#455 of 2,758
- Nebraska rank#5 of 93
- Population21,335
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal36 in.
- FIPS31043
Where Dakota County ranks
#5 of 93 Nebraska counties by design load, top 16% of 2,758 nationally - that's Dakota County's spot. Nebraska counties average 20.2 psf; Dakota County runs 0.8 psf higher than that.
FIPS 31043, population 21,335, centered near 42.3916°N 96.5613°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 30 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 21 psf design figure above.
Dakota County: average annual snowfall
Dakota County sees about 36 in. of snow most winters, per the SIOUX CITY GATEWAY AP, IA US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Dakota 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. (How this figure is calculated.)