Portsmouth city, VA Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
Portsmouth city, VA: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Portsmouth city's roofs are built to hold 10 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 22 inches of fresh, light snow, 8 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 2 inches of solid ice - snow that heavy is rare here but ice from a freeze-thaw cycle adds up far faster than the depth suggests. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Portsmouth city, VA: quick facts
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,722 of 2,758
- Virginia rank#107 of 110
- Population96,482
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal6.2 in.
- FIPS51740
Portsmouth city by the numbers
Nationally that's #1,722 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 62%; within Virginia alone, Portsmouth city ranks #107 of 110. That's 8.3 psf below Virginia's own county-average design load of 18.3 psf.
Portsmouth city, FIPS 51740, is home to 96,482 people near 36.8593°N 76.357°W. Its 10 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 10 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Portsmouth city's snowfall, most winters
6.2 in. a year: that's Portsmouth city's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at NORFOLK INTL AP, VA US (9.6 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Portsmouth city's number
Treat the Portsmouth city figure as a starting point, not a final answer: it assumes standard occupancy, a heated structure and a moderately sheltered site, per ASCE 7-22's own defaults. Exposed terrain, an unheated building or a steeper roof all shift the real number.
For a real application, skip the county number and go straight to the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool - enter your coordinates and it returns a site-specific figure a plan reviewer will recognize. Details: the calculation guide.