Walsh County, ND Roof Snow Load - 42 psf
Walsh County, ND roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Walsh County is designed to carry 42 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.
On a roof that means 92.4 in. of fresh snow, 33.6 in. once it packs down, or 8.4 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A load this size is a serious structural matter; pre-modern-code homes and low-slope or flat-roofed sections are the ones most worth an inspection.
Walsh County, ND: quick facts
- Design roof snow load42 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map60 psf
- National rank#72 of 2,758
- North Dakota rank#2 of 49
- Population10,214
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal34.5 in.
- FIPS38099
Where Walsh County ranks
#2 of 49 North Dakota counties by design load, top 3% of 2,758 nationally - that's Walsh County's spot. North Dakota counties average 29.4 psf; Walsh County runs 12.6 psf higher than that.
FIPS 38099, population 10,214, centered near 48.377°N 97.7222°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 60 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 42 psf design figure above.
Walsh County: average annual snowfall
Walsh County sees about 34.5 in. of snow most winters, per the ADAMS 7 SSW, ND US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Walsh 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. Details: the calculation guide.