Ohio County, KY Roof Snow Load - 15 psf
Ohio County, KY roof snow load, translated
A typical heated home in Ohio 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 Ohio 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.
Ohio County at a glance
- Design roof snow load15 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map15 psf
- National rank#1,445 of 2,758
- Kentucky rank#56 of 120
- Population23,933
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal4.4 in.
- FIPS21183
Where Ohio County ranks
#56 of 120 Kentucky counties by design load, top 52% of 2,758 nationally - that's Ohio County's spot. That's 0.7 psf below Kentucky's own county-average design load of 15.7 psf.
FIPS 21183, population 23,933, centered near 37.4779°N 86.8449°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.
Ohio County: average annual snowfall
Ohio County sees about 4.4 in. of snow most winters, per the ROCHESTER FERRY, KY US station's 1991-2020 NOAA normal. See the density guide.
Read this before you use Ohio 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. See the methodology guide.