SnowLoadCheck

Pickens County, AL Roof Snow Load - 5 psf

What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Pickens County

Light
5 psf

That's Pickens County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. 3.5 psf is what the ground-load formula alone gives; Pickens County's 5 psf low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) beats it, so that figure is the one that governs on flat and low-pitch roofs.

Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 11 in. of fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 1 in. if it's turned to ice. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.

Pickens County at a glance

Where Pickens County's figure sits nationally

Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Pickens County sits at #2,310, the top 84% nationally - #42 of 67 within Alabama. 5.6 psf is Alabama's typical county figure - Pickens County comes in 0.6 psf under it.

Near 33.2968°N 88.0969°W, FIPS 01107: Pickens County counts 18,508 residents and a 5 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 5 psf.

How much it actually snows in Pickens County

Most winters bring Pickens County roughly 0.4 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at COLUMBUS, MS US, 20.4 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

Read this before you rely on it

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