Polk County, MN Roof Snow Load - 42 psf
Polk County, MN roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Polk County is designed to carry 42 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 92.4 in. of fresh snow, 33.6 in. once it packs down, or 8.4 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.
Polk County in numbers
- Design roof snow load42 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map60 psf
- National rank#44 of 2,758
- Minnesota rank#13 of 87
- Population30,413
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal49.9 in.
- FIPS27119
Where Polk County ranks
#13 of 87 Minnesota counties by design load, top 2% of 2,758 nationally - that's Polk County's spot. Minnesota counties average 37.4 psf; Polk County runs 4.6 psf higher than that.
FIPS 27119, population 30,413, centered near 47.7743°N 96.4°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 60 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 42 psf design figure above.
Polk County: average annual snowfall
Polk County sees about 49.9 in. of snow most winters, per the RED LAKE FALLS, MN US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Polk 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.