SnowLoadCheck

Breathitt County, KY Roof Snow Load - 15 psf

Breathitt County, KY roof snow load, translated

Moderate
15 psf

A typical heated home in Breathitt County is designed to carry 15 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. The physics-based figure alone would be 10.5 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 15 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.

On a roof that means 33 in. of fresh snow, 12 in. once it packs down, or 3 in. of solid ice - three very different piles for the same load. A meaningful design load. Most homes built to modern code handle it, but additions, carports, and flat-roofed sections are worth a second look.

Breathitt County at a glance

Where Breathitt County ranks

#90 of 120 Kentucky counties by design load, top 55% of 2,758 nationally - that's Breathitt County's spot. That's 0.7 psf below Kentucky's own county-average design load of 15.7 psf.

FIPS 21025, population 12,804, centered near 37.5178°N 83.3172°W. ASCE 7's underlying ground snow load here is 15 psf before the code's exposure and importance factors bring it to the 15 psf design figure above.

Breathitt County: average annual snowfall

Breathitt County sees about 8.8 in. of snow most winters, per the HAZARD WTR WKS, KY US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.

Read this before you use Breathitt County's figure

The figure above assumes the case ASCE 7-22 treats as typical: a heated, ordinary-occupancy home on a partially exposed site. Change any of those - exposure, heating, roof pitch, occupancy category - and the real design number moves.

A building permit needs the number at your exact address, not the county average - the free ASCE 7 Hazard Tool returns that from your coordinates in about a minute and produces a PDF a plan reviewer will accept. (How this figure is calculated.)