Franklin County, AL Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Franklin County, AL?
10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Franklin County to carry. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 22 in. if it's fresh powder, 8 in. once it settles, or a mere 2 in. if it's ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Franklin County at a glance
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,835 of 2,758
- Alabama rank#13 of 67
- Population31,874
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.6 in.
- FIPS01059
How Franklin County compares
10 psf ranks #1,835 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 67%) - and #13 of 67 in Alabama. Alabama counties average 5.6 psf; Franklin County runs 4.4 psf higher than that.
Population 31,874 (FIPS 01059), roughly 34.442°N 87.8428°W. The 10 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 10 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Franklin County, AL
NOAA's 30-year normal for Franklin County: 0.6 in. of snow a year, from the RUSSELLVILLE #2, AL US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Franklin County figure assumes
This is a county-level reference figure for a typical heated home built to Risk Category II (ordinary residential), on a partially exposed lot - the assumptions ASCE 7-22 itself treats as the default case. A steeper roof, a fully exposed hilltop lot, an unheated structure, or a higher risk category all change the actual number.
Franklin County's permit office wants an address-specific figure, not this county average - the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool is free, takes under a minute, and outputs a PDF most reviewers accept. See the methodology guide.