Spencer County, IN Roof Snow Load - 15 psf
Spencer County, IN roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Spencer County is designed to carry 15 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. §7.3.4's low-slope minimum of 15 psf is what actually governs on a flat or low-pitch roof here - higher than the 10.5 psf the base ground-load formula gives.
On a roof that means 33 in. of fresh snow, 12 in. once it packs down, or 3 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.
Spencer County in numbers
- Design roof snow load15 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map15 psf
- National rank#1,467 of 2,758
- Indiana rank#85 of 89
- Population20,192
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal11.3 in.
- FIPS18147
Where Spencer County ranks
#85 of 89 Indiana counties by design load, top 53% of 2,758 nationally - that's Spencer County's spot. That's 4.3 psf below Indiana's own county-average design load of 19.3 psf.
FIPS 18147, population 20,192, centered near 38.0097°N 87.0104°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 15 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 15 psf design figure above.
Spencer County: average annual snowfall
Spencer County sees about 11.3 in. of snow most winters, per the LEWISPORT 4 S, KY US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Spencer 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. Details: the calculation guide.