Georgetown County, SC Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Georgetown County, SC roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Georgetown County is designed to carry 5 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Georgetown County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
On a roof that means 11 in. of fresh snow, 4 in. once it packs down, or 1 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Georgetown County, SC: quick facts
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,164 of 2,758
- South Carolina rank#40 of 46
- Population66,035
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0 in.
- FIPS45043
Where Georgetown County ranks
#40 of 46 South Carolina counties by design load, top 78% of 2,758 nationally - that's Georgetown County's spot. That's 3.8 psf below South Carolina's own county-average design load of 8.8 psf.
FIPS 45043, population 66,035, centered near 33.4175°N 79.2963°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 5 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 5 psf design figure above.
Georgetown County: average annual snowfall
Georgetown County sees about 0 in. of snow most winters, per the MONCKS CORNER 4 N, SC US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. 41.7 mi is a real gap between Georgetown County and its nearest reporting station, so local snowfall can diverge from this figure, especially near elevation changes. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Georgetown 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. See the methodology guide.