Suffolk County, MA Roof Snow Load - 28 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Suffolk County
That's Suffolk County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 61.6 in. of fresh powder, 22.4 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 5.6 in. if it's turned to 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.
Suffolk County in numbers
- Design roof snow load28 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map40 psf
- National rank#218 of 2,758
- Massachusetts rank#6 of 14
- Population793,144
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal49.2 in.
- FIPS25025
Where Suffolk County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Suffolk County sits at #218, the top 8% nationally - #6 of 14 within Massachusetts. 27.6 psf is Massachusetts's typical county figure - Suffolk County beats it by 0.4 psf.
Near 42.3386°N 71.0183°W, FIPS 25025: Suffolk County counts 793,144 residents and a 40 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 28 psf.
How much it actually snows in Suffolk County
Most winters bring Suffolk County roughly 49.2 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at BOSTON LOGAN INTL AP, MA US, 1.6 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Suffolk County's number above is ASCE 7-22's default case, not a custom calculation: ordinary residential occupancy, heated, sited on ground that's neither fully sheltered nor fully exposed. Any one of those changing - pitch, exposure, heating, occupancy - moves the real figure.
Nothing here substitutes for an address-level number. Get one free, in about a minute, from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool using your own coordinates rather than Suffolk County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)