Among the many environmental loads addressed by the american society of civil engineers (asce) 7 standard, which is the basis for building and structure design in the U.S., building collapse due to…

The University of Oklahoma, through its Office of Research Administration, was awarded a $364,816 Project Grant by the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Climate and Atmospheric Research program (CFDA 11.431). The project aims to improve understanding of how extreme snow load accumulation and rain-on-snow (ROS) event statistical distributions evolve in a changing climate across the contiguous United States. This research will help address the risk of dangerous building collapse due to extreme snow loads, which can be exacerbated by climate change. The project will run from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2026.

Among the many environmental loads addressed by the american society of civil engineers (asce) 7 standard, which is the basis for building and structure design in the U.S., building collapse due to the weight of settled snow, or snow load, is dangerous and can be associated with significant disruption. These collapses are sometimes due to rain on snow (ROS) events, which can cause a surge in the weight of the snowpack immediately preceding the melting phase or ponding on the structure during the melting phase. Climate change is anticipated to increase the threat of extreme, short-term snow loads and/or ROS events in certain regions of the united states, despite an anticipated shortening of the typical snow accumulation season. The proposed work will improve our understanding of how the statistical distributions describing extreme snow load accumulation and ROS occurrence evolve in a changing climate across the conterminous united states (CONUS). This improved understanding WI