Swisher County, TX Roof Snow Load - 15 psf
Swisher County, TX roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Swisher County is designed to carry 15 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. The physics-based figure alone would be 10.5 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 15 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
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. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.
Swisher County, TX: quick facts
- Design roof snow load15 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map15 psf
- National rank#1,589 of 2,758
- Texas rank#18 of 254
- Population6,877
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal11.1 in.
- FIPS48437
Where Swisher County ranks
#18 of 254 Texas counties by design load, top 58% of 2,758 nationally - that's Swisher County's spot. That's 9.6 psf above Texas's own county-average design load of 5.4 psf.
FIPS 48437, population 6,877, centered near 34.5263°N 101.7439°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.
Swisher County: average annual snowfall
Swisher County sees about 11.1 in. of snow most winters, per the TULIA, TX US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Swisher 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.