Montrose County, CO Roof Snow Load - Case Study Area
Why doesn't Montrose County have a snow load number?
ASCE 7's own snow load map has no single figure for Montrose County: the terrain is complex enough that the code (§7.2) requires an elevation-specific study rather than a county-wide value. That is the map being accurate, not a data gap.
FIPS 08085, population 44,806. 386 US counties get this same case-study treatment; Montrose County is one of them.
Montrose County in numbers
- Population44,806
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal21.5 in.
- FIPS08085
Montrose County: average annual snowfall
Montrose County sees about 21.5 in. of snow most winters, per the MONTROSE #2, CO US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Montrose County's figure
The figure above assumes the case ASCE 7-22 treats as typical: a heated, ordinary-occupancy home on a partially exposed site. Change any of those - exposure, heating, roof pitch, occupancy category - and the real design number moves.
A building permit needs the number at your exact address, not the county average - the free ASCE 7 Hazard Tool returns that from your coordinates in about a minute and produces a PDF a plan reviewer will accept. Details: the calculation guide.