Fairfield County, OH Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Fairfield County, OH roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Fairfield County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Fairfield County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 17.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
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. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.
Fairfield County at a glance
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#608 of 2,758
- Ohio rank#18 of 86
- Population167,762
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal17 in.
- FIPS39045
Where Fairfield County ranks
#18 of 86 Ohio counties by design load, top 22% of 2,758 nationally - that's Fairfield County's spot. Fairfield County's figure lands almost exactly on Ohio's own county-average of 20 psf.
FIPS 39045, population 167,762, centered near 39.7477°N 82.6267°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 25 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Fairfield County: average annual snowfall
Fairfield County sees about 17 in. of snow most winters, per the BUCKEYE LAKE 1 N, OH US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Fairfield 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.