Laurens County, SC Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Laurens County
That's Laurens County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. 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.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 22 in. of fresh powder, 8 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 2 in. if it's turned to ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Laurens County in numbers
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,740 of 2,758
- South Carolina rank#16 of 46
- Population70,545
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal1.3 in.
- FIPS45059
Where Laurens County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Laurens County sits at #1,740, the top 63% nationally - #16 of 46 within South Carolina. That's 1.2 psf above South Carolina's own county-average design load of 8.8 psf.
Near 34.4837°N 82.0055°W, FIPS 45059: Laurens County counts 70,545 residents and a 10 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 10 psf.
How much it actually snows in Laurens County
Most winters bring Laurens County roughly 1.3 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at LAURENS, SC US, 1.4 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Laurens County's number above is ASCE 7-22's default case, not a custom calculation: ordinary residential occupancy, heated, sited on ground that's neither fully sheltered nor fully exposed. Any one of those changing - pitch, exposure, heating, occupancy - moves the real figure.
Nothing here substitutes for an address-level number. Get one free, in about a minute, from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool using your own coordinates rather than Laurens County's county-wide figure. Details: the calculation guide.