Rooks County, KS Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Rooks County, KS?
20 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Rooks County to carry. 17.5 psf is what the ground-load formula alone gives; Rooks County's 20 psf low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) beats it, so that figure is the one that governs on flat and low-pitch roofs.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 44 in. if it's fresh powder, 16 in. once it settles, or a mere 4 in. if it's ice. Modern-code homes carry a load like this without issue; an older addition, a carport, or any flat-roofed section is where it is worth checking first.
Rooks County in numbers
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#1,224 of 2,758
- Kansas rank#48 of 105
- Population4,748
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal19.7 in.
- FIPS20163
How Rooks County compares
20 psf ranks #1,224 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 44%) - and #48 of 105 in Kansas. Kansas counties average 18.2 psf; Rooks County runs 1.8 psf higher than that.
Population 4,748 (FIPS 20163), roughly 39.346°N 99.3245°W. The 25 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 20 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Rooks County, KS
NOAA's 30-year normal for Rooks County: 19.7 in. of snow a year, from the PLAINVILLE 4WNW, KS US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Rooks County 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.
Rooks County'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. (How this figure is calculated.)