Wind and snow ratings for pergolas and gazebos
Which pergola survives your yard?
Wind and snow numbers for pergolas and gazebos, taken from the makers' own documents. The numbers we couldn't trust are left off.
Wind claims, in mph, against hurricane categories
Maker's own claim, no outside test found. Categories from the National Hurricane Center. Numbered boxes are hurricane categories 1 to 5.
Snow claims, in pounds per square foot
Maker's own claim. Sunjoy figures are our arithmetic from total roof pounds. Dashed lines: FEMA P-957 weight of one foot of snow.
Wind and snow ratings by maker and model
The two charts above, as plain numbers. Wind is in miles per hour, snow in pounds per square foot (psf).
| Maker | Model | Wind, mph | Snow, psf | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunjoy | 10x11 wood hot tub pergola | 35 | none given | Sunjoy product page |
| Sunjoy | Kingston hardtop gazebos (snow figure for the 12x20) | 50 | about 15 (3,700 lb on the whole roof) | Sunjoy Kingston page |
| Sunjoy | 13x15 Estate Planter gazebo | 50 | about 18 (3,500 lb on the whole roof) | Sunjoy product page |
| Hanso | Pro+ aluminum pergola | 72 to 120 | 25 | Hanso product page |
| Hanso | Horizon pergola | 120 roof open, 165 roof closed | 60 | Hanso product page, spec sheet |
What a maker's mph and psf rating means, and what a code design load is
A wind rating on a pergola listing, such as 50 mph or 120 mph, is one number the maker chose to print. None of the maker pages read for this site say how the number was reached: a lab test, an engineer's calculation, or something else. They also leave out whether it means a steady wind or a short gust. Hanso gives the Pro+ as a range, 72 to 120 mph, without saying which setup earns which end.
A building code works from the other direction. It starts with your address. ASCE 7, the US loads standard that building codes point to for wind and snow, maps a basic wind speed for every location. FEMA defines that speed as a three-second gust measured 33 feet above the ground in Exposure C, which is flat, open terrain with scattered obstructions (FEMA hurricane wind retrofit job aid). Suburbs and wooded lots with many close obstructions are Exposure B. Waterfront sites can fall under Exposure D, and FEMA says a licensed design professional should make that call. The design wind speed also depends on the risk category, which follows from how the structure is used.
So a 120 mph maker rating and a 120 mph code wind speed are different things. The code figure is a gust at a fixed height over a fixed kind of ground, and an engineer feeds it into a calculation along with the height, shape and exposure of the structure. The maker figure comes with none of that context. Hurricane categories are a third kind of number: the National Hurricane Center ranks storms by maximum sustained wind, not by gusts (Saffir-Simpson scale).
Snow has the same gap. Hanso prints psf, the unit codes use. Sunjoy prints total pounds on the roof, which has to be divided by roof area before it means anything. A code starts from the ground snow load at your address; the Applied Technology Council lookup describes these as the values "used in the determination of design snow loads for buildings and other structures" (ATC snow load lookup). Getting from the ground figure to a roof figure is an engineer's step, and drifting or rain on snow can load a small roof more than the ground number suggests.
Local building codes and an engineer's stamped design for your site override any maker claim on this site. Use the maker numbers to build a shortlist, then look up your own wind speed and ground snow load on the ASCE Hazard Tool and ask your building office what applies.
Guides by yard problem: hot tubs, coastal wind, snow, renting, slopes
- What size pergola fits over a hot tub?
- Which pergolas are rated for coastal wind?
- Which gazebos can take heavy snow?
- Can a renter put up a pergola without drilling in?
- Putting a pergola on a sloped yard
Full ratings comparison with every source linked
Wind and snow ratings, side by side. Every number links to the page it came from, and one model left off for conflicting figures is explained there.
Short answers on pergola wind and snow ratings
Is a 50 mph pergola safe in a hurricane?
No hurricane is that mild. The National Hurricane Center starts Category 1 at 74 mph of sustained wind, so a 50 mph rating sits well under the weakest hurricane. Sunjoy's own manuals also say its structures are not made for high winds.
Can Sunjoy and Hanso snow numbers be compared as printed?
Not directly. Sunjoy gives total pounds on the roof and Hanso gives pounds per square foot. Divided by floor area, the Sunjoy Kingston 12x20 comes to about 15 psf and the Estate Planter 13x15 to about 18 psf, against 25 for the Hanso Pro+ and 60 for the Horizon.
Does a maker's rating mean no permit is needed?
No. A product rating carries no weight with a building office. Ask your town whether a roofed structure of your size needs a permit, and expect the code and any engineer's stamped design to come first.
Where these numbers come from, and the limits
We haven't built or tested any of these. Everything here comes from maker pages and manuals, read in November 2026. How this site works.