By Tim Gardner
Anyone wondering about what kind of weather the North Carolina High Country will get for the 2023-2024 winter season of course, can check weather almanacs and meteorologist forecasts, but perhaps as reliable or even more so, they can check the results of the world-famous Woolly Worm Festival that happens in Banner Elk every third weekend in October.
It’s there and then that these woolly and wriggly forecasters race to predict what kind of weather will happen during the winter season. The race is based on a legend that the fur bands of a woolly bear caterpillar can accurately foretell winter weather.
That legend includes:
Black–Temperature below average, expect snow
Brown (Dark)–Average conditions
Fleck–Temperatures below average, expect light snow and/or frost
Amber (Light)–Temperatures above average, do not expect snow – The average winter temperature for the North Carolina High Country is officially listed as 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
There are 13 body segments in a woolly worm and 13 weeks in the winter season. Each body segment of the winning woolly worm corresponds to that week’s weather.
This year’s Woolly Worm Festival–it’s 46th–took place last Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, and for the first time in more than twenty years, winners on both race days were from Avery County.
On Saturday, there were 1463 woolly worms in races, including the finals. The grand winning worm, which is from Saturday’s race each year, is named Jeffrey, and is owned by Brock and Max Wright of Newland.
The Wrights won the grand prize of $1,000 for having Saturday’s winning race woolly worm.
Then on Sunday, 665 woolly worms raced, counting its finals.
The winning woolly worm from Sunday’s secondary race is named Cotton Ball, and is owned by Michael Holland of Beech Mountain.
Holland won $500 for having Sunday’s winning race woolly worm.
The Corporate Race winner was Burrito raced by Scott Garland of Cornerstone Lodge and Cabins of Banner Elk, which will display the winner’s trophy at its business for the next year.
Entrants from twenty-one states were represented at this year’s Woolly Worm Races, including, in addition to North Carolina: Illinois, New Jersey, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Alabama, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and West Virginia.
Also, in addition to America, entrants also came from an amazing six other countries, including: Germany, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Ukraine and Switzerland.
According to Talia Freeman, Director of Marketing for Beech Mountain Resort, a multitude of woolly worms competing in this year’s race had unique and/or funny names, including: Amy Wormhouse, Sir Worm a Lot, Wormious Maximus, Free Woolly, Harry Styles, Tayworm Swift, Wool I am, Worminator, Dale Wormhardt Jr., Woolly Nelson, Woolly Buffet, Woolly the Pooh, Wormy Potter, Wolsain Bolt, Fluffy, Squirmy Wormy, and Filet Min Worm.
And for the answer to the question so many want to know–what kind of weather will the North Carolina High Country receive during the 2023-2024 winter season? Tommy Burleson, former basketball All-American at old Newland High School, Avery County High, and North Carolina State University, member of the 1972 United States Olympic Team, and professional National Basketball Association (NBA) standout for the Seattle Supersonics, Kansas City Kings, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls, as well as the county’s former Inspections Director, and perennial woolly worm interpreter, intently studied the color patterns of Jeffrey the Woolly Worm and then revealed the worm’s following winter prognostication aloud to those gathered:
Week One: Colder than Average and Snow
Week Two: Colder than Average and Snow
Week Three: Colder than Average and Snow
Week Four: Colder than Average and Snow
Week Five: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow
Week Six: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow
Week Seven: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow
Week Eight: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow
Week Nine: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow
Week Ten: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow
Week Eleven: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow
Week Twelve: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow
Week Thirteen: Colder than Average and Snow.
The Woolly Worm Festival is one of the High Country’s largest and most unique festivals and is annually attended by an estimated 20,000 guests.
Besides the races, the Woolly Worm Festival’s attendees enjoy food vendors, children’s games and activities, as well as live music and clogging demonstrations from local children to round out the event’s festivities. Additionally, there are various vendor booths where visitors can shop for Woolly Worm Festival memorabilia, souvenir shirts, and hand-crafted items that will become family heirlooms.
The Woolly Worm Festival is sponsored by the Banner Elk Kiwanis Club and the Avery County Chamber of Commerce. All proceeds are given back to the community to enhance its schools, children’s programs, and to promote business and tourism in the county.
“Our festival is an event that the Town of Banner Elk and other Avery County residents and natives enjoy, as do many others from near and far, “said Robin Morgan, Avery County Chamber of Commerce Director. “It’s a way for so many people to get together, share laughs, good stories, celebrate the High Country and create some wonderful memories, while having fun watching the woolly worm races!”
Morgan also expressed “the highest appreciation” to the many volunteers who make the Woolly Worm Festival a success including the area’s Civil Air Patrol, with chief contact Jim Fitzpatrick, for “the tremendous assistance they provide the Woolly Worm Festival.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.