Hancock County, IA Roof Snow Load - 24.5 psf
Hancock County, IA roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Hancock County is designed to carry 24.5 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 53.9 in. of fresh snow, 19.6 in. once it packs down, or 4.9 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.
Hancock County at a glance
- Design roof snow load24.5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map35 psf
- National rank#356 of 2,758
- Iowa rank#22 of 99
- Population10,616
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal35.3 in.
- FIPS19081
Where Hancock County ranks
#22 of 99 Iowa counties by design load, top 13% of 2,758 nationally - that's Hancock County's spot. 21.7 psf is Iowa's typical county figure - Hancock County beats it by 2.8 psf.
FIPS 19081, population 10,616, centered near 43.0754°N 93.7437°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 35 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 24.5 psf design figure above.
Hancock County: average annual snowfall
Hancock County sees about 35.3 in. of snow most winters, per the KANAWHA, IA US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Hancock 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. Details: the calculation guide.