Snow Load

How Much Snow Can Your Roof Handle?

Snow LoadAs winter gives way to spring, the Northeast is finally getting a reprieve from the snow. In the aftermath of the most brutal winter in years, Boston and other areas are dealing with collapsed and damaged roofs. While the Rockies haven’t had loads of snow this season, there are plenty of lessons from the events back East.

On average Park City, Utah receives 143” of snow (the ski resorts are more than double that). If on average, this snow is around 8.4% water then each cubic foot of snow would weigh 5.24 lbs (based on a cubic foot of water weighing 62.4 lbs).

With these numbers, if a Park City home receives nearly 12’ of snow each year, the roof would collect approximately 63 lbs of snow per square foot over the course of winter. That is a lot of weight on a roof.

Now obviously this snow doesn’t fall all at once, but imagine the strain it places on the structure. A 200 square foot section of roof would receive over 12,500 lbs of snow during the season. As the snow melts and refreezes, it can create ice dams, icicles, and other dangerous buildup. This ice adds even more strain to your roof than snow.

One way to prevent these issues is to install a roof deicing system in trouble areas. Warmquest offers a variety of options for ice prevention, including systems that install beneath your roof covering.



Preventing Roof Ice with Invizimelt [Time Lapse]
Time to Install Radiant Heat