Freestone County, TX Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Freestone County, TX: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Freestone 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. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Freestone County at a glance
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,291 of 2,758
- Texas rank#127 of 254
- Population20,645
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0 in.
- FIPS48161
Freestone County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,291 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 83%; within Texas alone, Freestone County ranks #127 of 254. Texas counties average 5.4 psf; Freestone County runs 0.4 psf lower than that.
Freestone County, FIPS 48161, is home to 20,645 people near 31.7017°N 96.145°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Freestone County's snowfall, most winters
0 in. a year: that's Freestone County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at OAKWOOD, TX US (19.3 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Freestone County's number
Treat the Freestone 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. Details: the calculation guide.