SnowLoadCheck

Washington County, VA Roof Snow Load - 15 psf

Washington County, VA roof snow load, translated

Moderate
15 psf

A typical heated home in Washington County is designed to carry 15 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. 10.5 psf is what the ground-load formula alone gives; Washington County's 15 psf low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) beats it, so that figure is the one that governs on flat and low-pitch roofs.

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. 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.

Washington County, VA: quick facts

Where Washington County ranks

#83 of 110 Virginia counties by design load, top 50% of 2,758 nationally - that's Washington County's spot. Virginia counties average 18.3 psf; Washington County runs 3.3 psf lower than that.

FIPS 51191, population 54,098, centered near 36.7478°N 81.9503°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.

Washington County: average annual snowfall

Washington County sees about 12 in. of snow most winters, per the MTN CITY 2, TN US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.

Read this before you use Washington 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.