Rapides Parish, LA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Rapides Parish, LA?
5 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Rapides Parish to carry. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Rapides Parish are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 11 in. if it's fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles, or a mere 1 in. if it's ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Rapides Parish at a glance
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,129 of 2,758
- Louisiana rank#5 of 64
- Population125,899
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0 in.
- FIPS22079
How Rapides Parish compares
5 psf ranks #2,129 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 77%) - and #5 of 64 in Louisiana. 2.4 psf is Louisiana's typical county figure - Rapides Parish beats it by 2.6 psf.
Population 125,899 (FIPS 22079), roughly 31.1932°N 92.536°W. The 5 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 5 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Rapides Parish, LA
NOAA's 30-year normal for Rapides Parish: 0 in. of snow a year, from the LSU DEAN LEE RSCH STN, LA US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Rapides Parish figure assumes
This is a county-level reference figure for a typical heated home built to Risk Category II (ordinary residential), on a partially exposed lot - the assumptions ASCE 7-22 itself treats as the default case. A steeper roof, a fully exposed hilltop lot, an unheated structure, or a higher risk category all change the actual number.
Rapides Parish's permit office wants an address-specific figure, not this county average - the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool is free, takes under a minute, and outputs a PDF most reviewers accept. Details: the calculation guide.