Rockwall County, TX Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Rockwall County, TX: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Rockwall County's roofs are built to hold 5 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 5 psf - higher than the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
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.
Rockwall County, TX: quick facts
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,123 of 2,758
- Texas rank#63 of 254
- Population137,044
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.2 in.
- FIPS48397
Rockwall County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,123 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 77%; within Texas alone, Rockwall County ranks #63 of 254. That's 0.4 psf below Texas's own county-average design load of 5.4 psf.
Rockwall County, FIPS 48397, is home to 137,044 people near 32.9003°N 96.412°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Rockwall County's snowfall, most winters
0.2 in. a year: that's Rockwall County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at ROCKWALL, TX US (3.8 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Rockwall County's number
Treat the Rockwall County 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.)