De Baca County, NM Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in De Baca County
That's De Baca 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. This is a modest add-on to standard roof loading - ordinary residential construction carries it without extra bracing.
De Baca County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,458 of 2,758
- New Mexico rank#23 of 27
- Population1,657
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal11.8 in.
- FIPS35011
Where De Baca County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, De Baca County sits at #2,458, the top 89% nationally - #23 of 27 within New Mexico. That's 1.9 psf below New Mexico's own county-average design load of 6.9 psf.
Near 34.3593°N 104.3687°W, FIPS 35011: De Baca County counts 1,657 residents and a 5 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 5 psf.
How much it actually snows in De Baca County
Most winters bring De Baca County roughly 11.8 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at FT SUMNER 5 S, NM US, 7.2 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
De Baca 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 De Baca County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)