How To Determine The Design Wind Speed For Your Project
To determine the wind speed to use for your project, visit the ASCE Hazard Tool.
This tool allows input of a project address and also returns flood, snow, ice & seismic information.
What You Need To Know
Risk Categories
About Risk Categories
In ASCE-7, wind velocities for a given location vary depending on the severity of risk of failure during a storm.
For example, a hospital should be designed stronger than a sunroom which carries a higher risk category.
Your Local Building Department
Local building departments have the option of creating a more critical wind velocity than what’s published in the ASCE Hazard Tool.
We strongly recommend verifying any site-specific wind velocity with your local Building Department as these values may differ from municipality-specific requirements.
Last Update: September 11, 2025