Mercer County, ND Roof Snow Load - Case Study Area
Why doesn't Mercer County have a snow load number?
Mercer County sits in the mountain-west terrain where ASCE 7-22 §7.2 itself declines to give a contour figure - elevation changes too fast over short distances there for one number per county to mean anything. The code requires a site-specific study for a building here, not a look-up.
Mercer County, FIPS 38057, is home to 8,348 people - one of 386 US counties ASCE 7 itself routes around a map figure for.
Mercer County in numbers
- Population8,348
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal33.4 in.
- FIPS38057
How much it actually snows in Mercer County
Most winters bring Mercer County roughly 33.4 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at ZAP, ND US, 5.6 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Mercer 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 Mercer County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)