SnowLoadCheck

Marlboro County, SC Roof Snow Load - 10 psf

How much snow is too much for a roof in Marlboro County, SC?

Light
10 psf

10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Marlboro County to carry. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Marlboro County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 10 psf, not the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.

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.

Marlboro County, SC: quick facts

How Marlboro County compares

10 psf ranks #1,876 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 68%) - and #29 of 46 in South Carolina. That's 1.2 psf above South Carolina's own county-average design load of 8.8 psf.

Population 25,498 (FIPS 45069), roughly 34.6017°N 79.6794°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 Marlboro County, SC

NOAA's 30-year normal for Marlboro County: 1.1 in. of snow a year, from the LAURINBURG, NC US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

What this Marlboro 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.

Marlboro 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.)