Prince George's County, MD Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Prince George's County, MD roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Prince George's 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 Prince George's County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 17.5 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.
Prince George's County, MD: quick facts
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#513 of 2,758
- Maryland rank#4 of 21
- Population966,629
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal15.8 in.
- FIPS24033
Where Prince George's County ranks
#4 of 21 Maryland counties by design load, top 19% of 2,758 nationally - that's Prince George's County's spot. 20.1 psf is Maryland's typical county figure - Prince George's County comes in 0.1 psf under it.
FIPS 24033, population 966,629, centered near 38.8293°N 76.8482°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 25 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Prince George's County: average annual snowfall
Prince George's County sees about 15.8 in. of snow most winters, per the BELTSVILLE, MD US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Prince George's 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. (How this figure is calculated.)