Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK Snow Load: Case Study Area
Why doesn't Fairbanks North Star Borough have a snow load number?
Fairbanks North Star Borough sits in the mountain-west terrain where ASCE 7-22 §7.2 itself declines to give a contour figure - elevation changes too fast over short distances there for one number per county to mean anything. The code requires a site-specific study for a building here, not a look-up.
Fairbanks North Star Borough, FIPS 02090, is home to 94,951 people - one of 386 US counties ASCE 7 itself routes around a map figure for.
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK: quick facts
- Population94,951
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal67.7 in.
- FIPS02090
How much it actually snows in Fairbanks North Star Borough
Most winters bring Fairbanks North Star Borough roughly 67.7 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at EIELSON FLD, AK US, 17.9 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Fairbanks North Star Borough'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 Fairbanks North Star Borough's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)