Ottawa County, OH Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Ottawa County, OH roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Ottawa County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. 14 psf is what the ground-load formula alone gives; Ottawa County's 20 psf low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) beats it, so that figure is the one that governs on flat and low-pitch roofs.
On a roof that means 44 in. of fresh snow, 16 in. once it packs down, or 4 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.
Ottawa County in numbers
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#783 of 2,758
- Ohio rank#60 of 86
- Population39,692
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal26.2 in.
- FIPS39123
Where Ottawa County ranks
#60 of 86 Ohio counties by design load, top 28% of 2,758 nationally - that's Ottawa County's spot. Ottawa County's figure lands almost exactly on Ohio's own county-average of 20 psf.
FIPS 39123, population 39,692, centered near 41.5455°N 83.0126°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 20 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Ottawa County: average annual snowfall
Ottawa County sees about 26.2 in. of snow most winters, per the FREMONT, OH US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Ottawa 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. (How this figure is calculated.)