Decatur County, IN Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Decatur County, IN roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Decatur County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 20 psf - higher than the 14 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
On a roof that means 44 in. of fresh snow, 16 in. once it packs down, or 4 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.
Decatur County, IN: quick facts
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#899 of 2,758
- Indiana rank#50 of 89
- Population26,421
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal13.3 in.
- FIPS18031
Where Decatur County ranks
#50 of 89 Indiana counties by design load, top 33% of 2,758 nationally - that's Decatur County's spot. That's 0.7 psf above Indiana's own county-average design load of 19.3 psf.
FIPS 18031, population 26,421, centered near 39.306°N 85.4998°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 20 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Decatur County: average annual snowfall
Decatur County sees about 13.3 in. of snow most winters, per the GREENSBURG, IN US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Decatur 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. Details: the calculation guide.