Wilkes County, GA Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
Wilkes County, GA: your roof's ASCE 7 snow number, in plain English
Wilkes County's roofs are built to hold 5 psf of snow, the ASCE 7-22 figure a permit reviewer checks first. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Wilkes County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 5 psf, not the 3.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
In depth, not weight: that's roughly 11 inches of fresh, light snow, 4 inches of old, settled snow, or as little as 1 inches of solid ice - snow that heavy is rare here but ice from a freeze-thaw cycle adds up far faster than the depth suggests. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Wilkes County at a glance
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,387 of 2,758
- Georgia rank#81 of 159
- Population9,567
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal0.5 in.
- FIPS13317
Wilkes County by the numbers
Nationally that's #2,387 out of 2,758 rated counties, the top 87%; within Georgia alone, Wilkes County ranks #81 of 159. That's 1.4 psf above Georgia's own county-average design load of 3.6 psf.
Wilkes County, FIPS 13317, is home to 9,567 people near 33.779°N 82.7479°W. Its 5 psf ground snow load figure is the map value; 5 psf is what a roof is actually designed for.
Wilkes County's snowfall, most winters
0.5 in. a year: that's Wilkes County's NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, measured at WASHINGTON 2 ESE, GA US (4.4 mi away). See the density guide.
Before you rely on Wilkes County's number
Treat the Wilkes County figure as a starting point, not a final answer: it assumes standard occupancy, a heated structure and a moderately sheltered site, per ASCE 7-22's own defaults. Exposed terrain, an unheated building or a steeper roof all shift the real number.
For a real application, skip the county number and go straight to the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool - enter your coordinates and it returns a site-specific figure a plan reviewer will recognize. (How this figure is calculated.)