Gloucester County, NJ Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Gloucester County, NJ roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Gloucester 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 Gloucester County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 14 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.
Gloucester County at a glance
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#562 of 2,758
- New Jersey rank#13 of 17
- Population311,783
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal21.9 in.
- FIPS34015
Where Gloucester County ranks
#13 of 17 New Jersey counties by design load, top 20% of 2,758 nationally - that's Gloucester County's spot. New Jersey counties average 20.1 psf; Gloucester County runs 0.1 psf lower than that.
FIPS 34015, population 311,783, centered near 39.7229°N 75.1457°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 20 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Gloucester County: average annual snowfall
Gloucester County sees about 21.9 in. of snow most winters, per the SOMERDALE 4 SW, NJ US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Gloucester 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.