SnowLoadCheck

Richland Parish, LA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf

Richland Parish, LA: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English

Light
5 psf

Richland Parish's roofs are built to hold 5 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. §7.3.4's low-slope minimum of 5 psf is what actually governs on a flat or low-pitch roof here - higher than the 3.5 psf the base ground-load formula gives.

In depth, not weight: that's roughly 11 inches of fresh, light snow, 4 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 1 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. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.

Richland Parish, LA: quick facts

Richland Parish by the numbers

Nationally that's #2,301 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 83%; within Louisiana alone, Richland Parish ranks #17 of 64. That's 2.6 psf above Louisiana's own county-average design load of 2.4 psf.

Richland Parish, FIPS 22083, is home to 19,643 people near 32.4132°N 91.7484°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.

Richland Parish's snowfall, most winters

0.7 in. a year: that's Richland Parish's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at RAYVILLE, LA US (5.6 mi away). See the density guide.

Before you rely on Richland Parish's number

Treat the Richland Parish 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. (How this figure is calculated.)