Portage County, WI Roof Snow Load - 35 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Portage County
That's Portage 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 77 in. of fresh powder, 28 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 7 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.
Portage County at a glance
- Design roof snow load35 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map50 psf
- National rank#113 of 2,758
- Wisconsin rank#22 of 72
- Population72,040
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal47.8 in.
- FIPS55097
Where Portage County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Portage County sits at #113, the top 4% nationally - #22 of 72 within Wisconsin. Wisconsin counties average 30.9 psf; Portage County runs 4.1 psf higher than that.
Near 44.4762°N 89.4981°W, FIPS 55097: Portage County counts 72,040 residents and a 50 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 35 psf.
How much it actually snows in Portage County
Most winters bring Portage County roughly 47.8 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at WIS RAPIDS GRAND AV B, WI US, 17.2 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Portage 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 Portage County's county-wide figure. See the methodology guide.