Location Specific Snow; Sub Freezing Sat
Good morning folks! Schools are letting out early ahead of the incoming snow and although SW NC as a whole will not be impacted too much by this event, there will be a handful of areas across the region that will experience travel hazards and moderate accumulations. We'll dive into the snow details below to keep the timeline moving along. Saturday will be down right frigid across the region with wind chill values near zero and afternoon highs below freezing regionwide, which is why we and the folks at Innovation Brewing decided to move Saturday's snow event to Sunday. Both days offer up sunshine but Sunday will feature temps in the mid - upper 40's across the valleys, so a much more enjoyable day for the families to enjoy the snow, plus we'll have more time to make more snow, a win-win. Monday and Tuesday keep the fair weather training rolling along with more sunshine as we enjoy the influence of a high pressure and upper level ridge, with temps making at run at the mid 50's Monday, low 50's Tuesday as clouds build across the area. Wednesday into Friday looks wet but the bigger question is will this be another rain/snow event based on elevation or a regionwide rain event? Either way we're in for some form of precip Wednesday into Friday of next week, with temps trending down after Tuesday; more details in our next post.
Today's snow chances remain the same from our last discussion, with a dusting up to an inch possible across valley towns closer to the TN line such as Bryson City, Dillsboro - Sylva and Cherokee. Maggie Valley, Balsam, Soco Gap, and Waynesville will pick up a touch more, perhaps 1 - 2" and the winners will be the ridgelines facing NW and any location next to the TN line where 5 - 10" of snow could fall depending upon location/orientation/elevation. Highest location will likely be Mt LeConte with a total close to 10 - 12". Cataloochee Ski Area stands a chance at picking up 3 - 5" and most of the snow for our region will come in the form of NW flow, although there will be a short lived round of snow closer to sunset. NW flow snow will eventually fizzle out as the system migrates northeast, ending as flurries around noon on Saturday for the TN line. Temps today warm to the upper 20's - low 40's depending upon elevation and plummet to the low single digits above 4500', holding to the low teens across the valleys.
Saturday will be cold and blustery with highs above 4000' only reaching mid teens, alongside westerly winds around 15 - 25mph that will push wind chill values to -15°F. The valleys warm to the mid - upper 20's under sunny skies with westerly winds around 10 - 15mph. Wind speeds calm down Saturday night for the valleys but remain steady around 15mph above 4000', with overnight lows in the upper single digits - mid teens depending upon elevation.
High pressure migrates east on Sunday and southwest flow takes over, allowing temps to push into the mid - upper 40's across the valleys, all under sunny skies. Monday and Tuesday remain dry, although clouds build on Tuesday and it looks like Monday will be the warmest day of the week with a high around 57°F for the valleys. Overnight lows settle into the 20's and 30's each night.
I'll stop here and circle back Sunday afternoon because I'll be making snow all day and night Saturday at Innovation Station, prepping for the Sunday event at noon. Hope to see everyone on Sunday!