Saline County, NE Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Saline County, NE roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Saline County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Saline County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 20 psf, not the 17.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
On a roof that means 44 in. of fresh snow, 16 in. once it packs down, or 4 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. This is a meaningful design load - most modern-code homes handle it fine, though an addition, a carport or a flat-roofed section can be a weak spot.
Saline County at a glance
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map25 psf
- National rank#1,031 of 2,758
- Nebraska rank#32 of 93
- Population14,740
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal26.8 in.
- FIPS31151
Where Saline County ranks
#32 of 93 Nebraska counties by design load, top 37% of 2,758 nationally - that's Saline County's spot. Nebraska counties average 20.2 psf; Saline County runs 0.2 psf lower than that.
FIPS 31151, population 14,740, centered near 40.5168°N 97.1318°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 25 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Saline County: average annual snowfall
Saline County sees about 26.8 in. of snow most winters, per the WESTERN 2W, NE US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Saline 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. See the methodology guide.