Ohio Ground Snow Load Is Set by Your City, Not the State

Like frost depth, ground snow load in Ohio is a local number rather than a state one. 2(6). That means two things for anyone trying to pin down a value. First, the operative figure comes from your local building department's adopted table, so a design must use the number that jurisdiction adopted rather than a regional guess. Second, the underlying source the code points to is a map figure, which is why Ohio jurisdictions publish a single adopted number rather than expecting each designer to read a contour.

Ohio does pre-fill the criteria that genuinely are uniform statewide, wind speed at 115 mph, weathering as severe, termite risk as moderate to heavy, and ice barrier underlayment as required, so the blank columns are a deliberate distinction rather than an oversight.

Ground snow load is a design input checked at plan review by the local jurisdiction. Because there is no statewide figure, the review is against whatever number your jurisdiction adopted, and drawings carrying a value from a neighbouring city are not evidence of compliance in yours.