Kershaw County, SC Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
Kershaw County, SC: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Kershaw County's roofs are built to hold 10 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 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 22 inches of fresh, light snow, 8 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 2 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. This is a modest add-on to standard roof loading - ordinary residential construction carries it without extra bracing.
Kershaw County in numbers
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,739 of 2,758
- South Carolina rank#15 of 46
- Population71,698
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0 in.
- FIPS45055
Kershaw County by the numbers
Nationally that's #1,739 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 63%; within South Carolina alone, Kershaw County ranks #15 of 46. South Carolina counties average 8.8 psf; Kershaw County runs 1.2 psf higher than that.
Kershaw County, FIPS 45055, is home to 71,698 people near 34.3384°N 80.5909°W. Its 10 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 10 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Kershaw County's snowfall, most winters
0 in. a year: that's Kershaw County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at WATEREE DAM, SC US (6.4 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Kershaw County's number
Treat the Kershaw 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. (How this figure is calculated.)