SnowLoadCheck

Orangeburg County, SC Roof Snow Load - 10 psf

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

Light
10 psf

10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Orangeburg County to carry. §7.3.4's low-slope minimum of 10 psf is what actually governs on a flat or low-pitch roof here - higher than the 7 psf the base ground-load formula gives.

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. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.

Got real snow on a Orangeburg County roof right now?

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Orangeburg County in numbers

How Orangeburg County compares

10 psf ranks #1,727 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 63%) - and #13 of 46 in South Carolina. South Carolina counties average 8.8 psf; Orangeburg County runs 1.2 psf higher than that.

Population 83,129 (FIPS 45075), roughly 33.4361°N 80.8029°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 Orangeburg County, SC

NOAA's 30-year normal for Orangeburg County: 0.1 in. of snow a year, from the ORANGEBURG 2, SC US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

What this Orangeburg 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.

Orangeburg 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.)