SnowLoadCheck

Wright County, IA Roof Snow Load - 24.5 psf

Wright County, IA roof snow load, translated

Moderate
24.5 psf

A typical heated home in Wright County is designed to carry 24.5 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22.

On a roof that means 53.9 in. of fresh snow, 19.6 in. once it packs down, or 4.9 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.

Wright County at a glance

Where Wright County ranks

#19 of 99 Iowa counties by design load, top 13% of 2,758 nationally - that's Wright County's spot. 21.7 psf is Iowa's typical county figure - Wright County beats it by 2.8 psf.

FIPS 19197, population 12,729, centered near 42.733°N 93.7347°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 35 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 24.5 psf design figure above.

Wright County: average annual snowfall

Wright County sees about 35.3 in. of snow most winters, per the KANAWHA, IA US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.

Read this before you use Wright 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.