Sheridan County, NE Roof Snow Load - 20 psf
Sheridan County, NE roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Sheridan County is designed to carry 20 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 20 psf - higher than the 14 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.
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. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.
Sheridan County, NE: quick facts
- Design roof snow load20 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map20 psf
- National rank#1,218 of 2,758
- Nebraska rank#58 of 93
- Population4,927
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal42.6 in.
- FIPS31161
Where Sheridan County ranks
#58 of 93 Nebraska counties by design load, top 44% of 2,758 nationally - that's Sheridan County's spot. 20.2 psf is Nebraska's typical county figure - Sheridan County comes in 0.2 psf under it.
FIPS 31161, population 4,927, centered near 42.5123°N 102.3683°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 20 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 20 psf design figure above.
Sheridan County: average annual snowfall
Sheridan County sees about 42.6 in. of snow most winters, per the ELLSWORTH 2W, NE US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. Worth noting: the nearest station reporting snowfall normals sits 31.2 mi from Sheridan County's center, so treat this as a regional figure rather than an exact one. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Sheridan 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. (How this figure is calculated.)