Rensselaer County, NY Roof Snow Load - 35 psf
Rensselaer County, NY roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Rensselaer County is designed to carry 35 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 77 in. of fresh snow, 28 in. once it packs down, or 7 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A load this size is a serious structural matter; pre-modern-code homes and low-slope or flat-roofed sections are the ones most worth an inspection.
Rensselaer County, NY: quick facts
- Design roof snow load35 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map50 psf
- National rank#102 of 2,758
- New York rank#2 of 28
- Population160,749
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal52.7 in.
- FIPS36083
Where Rensselaer County ranks
#2 of 28 New York counties by design load, top 4% of 2,758 nationally - that's Rensselaer County's spot. 25.4 psf is New York's typical county figure - Rensselaer County beats it by 9.6 psf.
FIPS 36083, population 160,749, centered near 42.7104°N 73.5138°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 50 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 35 psf design figure above.
Rensselaer County: average annual snowfall
Rensselaer County sees about 52.7 in. of snow most winters, per the WEST SAND LAKE 2 S, NY US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Rensselaer 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.