Lowndes County, MS Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Lowndes County, MS?
10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Lowndes County to carry. The physics-based figure alone would be 7 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 10 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
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. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Lowndes County at a glance
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,767 of 2,758
- Mississippi rank#4 of 82
- Population57,210
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.4 in.
- FIPS28087
How Lowndes County compares
10 psf ranks #1,767 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 64%) - and #4 of 82 in Mississippi. That's 3.5 psf above Mississippi's own county-average design load of 6.5 psf.
Population 57,210 (FIPS 28087), roughly 33.4714°N 88.4397°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 Lowndes County, MS
NOAA's 30-year normal for Lowndes County: 0.4 in. of snow a year, from the COLUMBUS, MS US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Lowndes 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.
Lowndes 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. (How this figure is calculated.)