SnowLoadCheck

Hale County, AL Roof Snow Load - 5 psf

Hale County, AL: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English

Light
5 psf

Hale 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.

Hale County at a glance

Hale County by the numbers

Nationally that's #2,334 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 85%; within Alabama alone, Hale County ranks #46 of 67. 5.6 psf is Alabama's typical county figure - Hale County comes in 0.6 psf under it.

Hale County, FIPS 01065, is home to 15,116 people near 32.7528°N 87.6231°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.

Hale County's snowfall, most winters

0.2 in. a year: that's Hale County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at GREENSBORO, AL US (5 mi away). See the density guide.

Before you rely on Hale County's number

Treat the Hale 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. See the methodology guide.