SnowLoadCheck

Oakland County, MI Roof Snow Load - 20 psf

What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Oakland County

Moderate
20 psf

That's Oakland County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. §7.3.4's low-slope minimum of 20 psf is what actually governs on a flat or low-pitch roof here - higher than the 17.5 psf the base ground-load formula gives.

Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 44 in. of fresh powder, 16 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 4 in. if it's turned to ice. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.

Oakland County in numbers

Where Oakland County's figure sits nationally

Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Oakland County sits at #505, the top 18% nationally - #57 of 70 within Michigan. 31.7 psf is Michigan's typical county figure - Oakland County comes in 11.7 psf under it.

Near 42.6605°N 83.3842°W, FIPS 26125: Oakland County counts 1,296,888 residents and a 25 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 20 psf.

How much it actually snows in Oakland County

Most winters bring Oakland County roughly 62.3 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at WHITE LAKE 4E, MI US, 5.1 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

Read this before you rely on it

Oakland 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 Oakland County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)