Columbus, OH Frost Depth & Snow Load: Ground Snow Load (2026)

The Residential Code of Ohio leaves the ground snow load column blank and directs the jurisdiction to fill it in, and Columbus supplies 20 psf in Construction Industry Communication #09. That is a light design load by national standards, Massachusetts towns run from 25 to 60 psf and Indiana's northern counties carry 30 psf, and it reflects central Ohio's snowfall rather than a relaxed standard. It matches the figures Dublin and Toledo publish, so the central and northwest Ohio cities we cover cluster at the same value even though their frost depths differ. The same table requires ice shield underlayment, which applies regardless of how modest the snow load is, and records the air freezing index as 1048.