De Soto Parish, LA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
De Soto Parish, LA: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
De Soto Parish's roofs are built to hold 5 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. Flat and low-pitch roofs in De Soto Parish are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 11 inches of fresh, light snow, 4 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 1 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.
De Soto Parish, LA: quick facts
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,248 of 2,758
- Louisiana rank#12 of 64
- Population27,274
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.3 in.
- FIPS22031
De Soto Parish by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,248 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 82%; within Louisiana alone, De Soto Parish ranks #12 of 64. That's 2.6 psf above Louisiana's own county-average design load of 2.4 psf.
De Soto Parish, FIPS 22031, is home to 27,274 people near 32.0592°N 93.7408°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
De Soto Parish's snowfall, most winters
0.3 in. a year: that's De Soto Parish's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at MANSFIELD 4 NW, LA US (1.3 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on De Soto Parish's number
Treat the De Soto Parish 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. (How this figure is calculated.)