Stephens County, TX Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Stephens County, TX?
5 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Stephens County to carry. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Stephens County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 11 in. if it's fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles, or a mere 1 in. if it's ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.
Already snow on the roof in Stephens County?
Stephens County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,389 of 2,758
- Texas rank#166 of 254
- Population9,475
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.4 in.
- FIPS48429
How Stephens County compares
5 psf ranks #2,389 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 87%) - and #166 of 254 in Texas. 5.4 psf is Texas's typical county figure - Stephens County comes in 0.4 psf under it.
Population 9,475 (FIPS 48429), roughly 32.7381°N 98.8393°W. The 5 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 5 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Stephens County, TX
NOAA's 30-year normal for Stephens County: 0.4 in. of snow a year, from the WOODSON, TX US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Stephens 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.
Stephens 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. See the methodology guide.