Otsego County, MI Roof Snow Load - 35 psf
Otsego County, MI roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Otsego County is designed to carry 35 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 77 in. of fresh snow, 28 in. once it packs down, or 7 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A load this size is a serious structural matter; pre-modern-code homes and low-slope or flat-roofed sections are the ones most worth an inspection.
Otsego County in numbers
- Design roof snow load35 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map50 psf
- National rank#149 of 2,758
- Michigan rank#23 of 70
- Population26,083
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal140.3 in.
- FIPS26137
Where Otsego County ranks
#23 of 70 Michigan counties by design load, top 5% of 2,758 nationally - that's Otsego County's spot. Michigan counties average 31.7 psf; Otsego County runs 3.3 psf higher than that.
FIPS 26137, population 26,083, centered near 45.0218°N 84.5766°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 50 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 35 psf design figure above.
Otsego County: average annual snowfall
Otsego County sees about 140.3 in. of snow most winters, per the GAYLORD, MI US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Otsego 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. See the methodology guide.