Jackson County, KY Roof Snow Load - 15 psf
Jackson County, KY roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Jackson County is designed to carry 15 pounds per square foot of snow on its roof, per ASCE 7-22. Flat and low-pitch roofs in Jackson County are actually governed by ASCE 7's §7.3.4 minimum of 15 psf, not the 10.5 psf the ground-load formula alone would produce.
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.
Jackson County in numbers
- Design roof snow load15 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map15 psf
- National rank#1,516 of 2,758
- Kentucky rank#84 of 120
- Population13,358
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal10.9 in.
- FIPS21109
Where Jackson County ranks
#84 of 120 Kentucky counties by design load, top 55% of 2,758 nationally - that's Jackson County's spot. Kentucky counties average 15.7 psf; Jackson County runs 0.7 psf lower than that.
FIPS 21109, population 13,358, centered near 37.4035°N 84.0206°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.
Jackson County: average annual snowfall
Jackson County sees about 10.9 in. of snow most winters, per the MT VERNON, KY US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Jackson 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.)