Walker County, GA Roof Snow Load - 10 psf
How much snow is too much for a roof in Walker County, GA?
10 psf: that's what ASCE 7-22 requires a typical heated home's roof in Walker County to carry. The physics-based figure alone would be 7 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 10 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
Picture it, not just weigh it: 22 in. if it's fresh powder, 8 in. once it settles, or a mere 2 in. if it's ice. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Walker County in numbers
- Design roof snow load10 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map10 psf
- National rank#1,744 of 2,758
- Georgia rank#2 of 159
- Population69,340
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal2.1 in.
- FIPS13295
How Walker County compares
10 psf ranks #1,744 of 2,758 US counties with a mapped snow load (top 63%) - and #2 of 159 in Georgia. That's 6.4 psf above Georgia's own county-average design load of 3.6 psf.
Population 69,340 (FIPS 13295), roughly 34.7358°N 85.3055°W. The 10 psf ground snow load ASCE 7-22 maps here becomes 10 psf once the code's own design factors are applied.
Typical snowfall in Walker County, GA
NOAA's 30-year normal for Walker County: 2.1 in. of snow a year, from the CHICKAMAUGA 2 SW, GA US station. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
What this Walker 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.
Walker 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. (How this figure is calculated.)