Franklin County, NC Roof Snow Load - 15 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Franklin County
That's Franklin County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. The physics-based figure alone would be 10.5 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 15 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 33 in. of fresh powder, 12 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 3 in. if it's turned to ice. 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.
Snow on Franklin County's roofs right now?
Franklin County in numbers
- Design roof snow load15 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map15 psf
- National rank#1,354 of 2,758
- North Carolina rank#28 of 100
- Population79,771
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal1.6 in.
- FIPS37069
Where Franklin County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Franklin County sits at #1,354, the top 49% nationally - #28 of 100 within North Carolina. That's 2.1 psf above North Carolina's own county-average design load of 12.9 psf.
Near 36.0882°N 78.2831°W, FIPS 37069: Franklin County counts 79,771 residents and a 15 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 15 psf.
How much it actually snows in Franklin County
Most winters bring Franklin County roughly 1.6 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at HENDERSON 2 NNW, NC US, 19.4 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Franklin County'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 Franklin County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)