Houston County, MN Roof Snow Load - 28 psf
Houston County, MN roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Houston County is designed to carry 28 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 61.6 in. of fresh snow, 22.4 in. once it packs down, or 5.6 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.
Houston County at a glance
- Design roof snow load28 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map40 psf
- National rank#254 of 2,758
- Minnesota rank#85 of 87
- Population18,352
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal44.8 in.
- FIPS27055
Where Houston County ranks
#85 of 87 Minnesota counties by design load, top 9% of 2,758 nationally - that's Houston County's spot. 37.4 psf is Minnesota's typical county figure - Houston County comes in 9.4 psf under it.
FIPS 27055, population 18,352, centered near 43.667°N 91.5016°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 40 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 28 psf design figure above.
Houston County: average annual snowfall
Houston County sees about 44.8 in. of snow most winters, per the CALEDONIA, MN US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Houston 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.