Otter Tail County, MN Roof Snow Load - 42 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Otter Tail County
That's Otter Tail County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 92.4 in. of fresh powder, 33.6 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 8.4 in. if it's turned to ice. A serious structural load. Homes built before modern snow-load provisions, or with low-slope/flat roof sections, are the ones most worth having checked.
Snow on Otter Tail County's roofs right now?
Otter Tail County at a glance
- Design roof snow load42 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map60 psf
- National rank#30 of 2,758
- Minnesota rank#8 of 87
- Population60,884
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal45.6 in.
- FIPS27111
Where Otter Tail County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Otter Tail County sits at #30, the top 1% nationally - #8 of 87 within Minnesota. 37.4 psf is Minnesota's typical county figure - Otter Tail County beats it by 4.6 psf.
Near 46.4057°N 95.7146°W, FIPS 27111: Otter Tail County counts 60,884 residents and a 60 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 42 psf.
How much it actually snows in Otter Tail County
Most winters bring Otter Tail County roughly 45.6 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at NEW YORK MILLS, MN US, 17.7 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County's county-wide figure. See the methodology guide.