Portage County, OH Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Portage County, OH roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Portage County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Portage County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 14 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
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.
Portage County at a glance
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#611 of 2,758
- Ohio rank#19 of 86
- Population163,839
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal45 in.
- FIPS39133
Where Portage County ranks
#19 of 86 Ohio counties by design load, top 22% of 2,758 nationally - that's Portage County's spot. Portage County's figure lands almost exactly on Ohio's own county-average of 20 psf.
FIPS 39133, population 163,839, centered near 41.169°N 81.197°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.
Portage County: average annual snowfall
Portage County sees about 45 in. of snow most winters, per the RAVENNA 2 S, OH US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Portage 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. Details: the calculation guide.