Lake County, OR Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Lake County, OR?
10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Lake County to carry. 7 psf is what the ground-load formula alone gives; Lake County's 10 psf low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) beats it, so that figure is the one that governs on flat and low-pitch roofs.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 22 in. if it's fresh powder, 8 in. once it settles, or a mere 2 in. if it's ice. This is a modest add-on to standard roof loading - ordinary residential construction carries it without extra bracing.
Lake County in numbers
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#2,016 of 2,758
- Oregon rank#12 of 15
- Population8,194
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal55.3 in.
- FIPS41037
How Lake County compares
10 psf ranks #2,016 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 73%) - and #12 of 15 in Oregon. 12 psf is Oregon's typical county figure - Lake County comes in 2 psf under it.
Population 8,194 (FIPS 41037), roughly 42.7884°N 120.3898°W. The 10 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 10 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Lake County, OR
NOAA's 30-year normal for Lake County: 55.3 in. of snow a year, from the LAKEVIEW 2 NNW, OR US station. 37.8 mi is a real gap between Lake County and its nearest reporting station, so local snowfall can diverge from this figure, especially near elevation changes. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Lake County figure assumes
This is a county-level reference figure for a typical heated home built to Risk Category II (ordinary residential), on a partially exposed lot - the assumptions ASCE 7-22 itself treats as the default case. A steeper roof, a fully exposed hilltop lot, an unheated structure, or a higher risk category all change the actual number.
Lake County's permit office wants an address-specific figure, not this county average - the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool is free, takes under a minute, and outputs a PDF most reviewers accept. Details: the calculation guide.