Douglas County, GA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Douglas County, GA: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Douglas County's roofs are built to hold 5 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 5 psf - higher than the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
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. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Douglas County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,120 of 2,758
- Georgia rank#35 of 159
- Population151,887
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal1.2 in.
- FIPS13097
Douglas County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,120 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 77%; within Georgia alone, Douglas County ranks #35 of 159. Georgia counties average 3.6 psf; Douglas County runs 1.4 psf higher than that.
Douglas County, FIPS 13097, is home to 151,887 people near 33.7012°N 84.7673°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Douglas County's snowfall, most winters
1.2 in. a year: that's Douglas County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at MABLETON 1 N, GA US (15.1 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Douglas County's number
Treat the Douglas 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. (How this figure is calculated.)