SnowLoadCheck

Union County, NM Roof Snow Load - 10 psf

What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Union County

Light
10 psf

That's Union County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. ASCE 7's low-slope-roof minimum (§7.3.4) raises the governing figure to 10 psf - higher than the 7 psf the ground-load formula alone would give, and the code says use the larger one.

Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 22 in. of fresh powder, 8 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 2 in. if it's turned to ice. A modest addition to standard roof loading. Ordinary residential construction handles this without extra bracing.

Got real snow on a Union County roof right now?

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Union County in numbers

Where Union County's figure sits nationally

Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Union County sits at #2,052, the top 74% nationally - #10 of 27 within New Mexico. New Mexico counties average 6.9 psf; Union County runs 3.1 psf higher than that.

Near 36.4881°N 103.4757°W, FIPS 35059: Union County counts 3,926 residents and a 10 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 10 psf.

How much it actually snows in Union County

Most winters bring Union County roughly 18.8 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at CLAYTON 1 N, NM US, 15.5 mi off. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)

Read this before you rely on it

Union 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 Union County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)