The snow load is the amount of force that snow exerts on a surface, such as the ground or a roof. Civil engineers often calculate the snow load of an area in order to determine the impact that the snow's weight will have on that area. For example, determining the snow load can help them figure out whether roofs are in danger of collapsing under the snow's weight. Although they may use complicated equipment to make these calculations, you can calculate snow loads in your own home with some common tools.
Things You'll Need
Tape measure
Shovel
Bucket
Measuring cup
1
Measure a square foot of snow covering a hard surface, such as asphalt or concrete. Mark the snow directly around the square foot.
2
Clear away the area around the square foot of snow. Preferably, clear away at least two feet of snow in each direction.
3
Measure the height of the snow pile at each of the four corners. Average the four measurements together to get the average height of the snow.
4
Collect the snow in a bucket and leave it in a warm room to let it melt.
5
Measure the volume of the water in a large measuring cup. Convert the measurement (in cups) to cubic feet by multiplying by 0.00835503472 (the conversion factor between cups and cubic feet).
6
Divide the volume of the water (from Step 5) by the volume of the snow (equal to the height of the snow from Step 3) to get the specific gravity of the snow.
7
Multiply the specific gravity of the snow by 62.4 to get the specific weight of the snow, which is the snow load.
Tips & Warnings
You can use two smaller buckets if you don't have one bucket large enough to hold all of the snow. Depending on the amount of snowfall, the bucket may need to hold five gallons or even more in order to hold the full square foot of snow.
Measure the snow as soon as possible after it melts. Waiting can cause some of the water to evaporate, which will skew your results.