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Area Schools Remain Closed Due to Slick Roads, More Snow Possible Wednesday

By Nathan Ham

After yesterday’s snowstorm and the few extra snow showers that rolled through the area on Monday night, several area counties including Watauga, Avery, Ashe, Mitchell and Yancey all closed for the day.

It is an optional teacher workday in Watauga County with teachers and staff reporting on a two-hour delay. It is also an optional teacher workday in Avery County.

This is the second-most days of school missed for Watauga County in the month of March since the 2001-02 school year. Watauga missed seven days of school this month during the 2012-13 year. So far in 2017-18, Watauga has missed four days in March.

The schedule returned to normal at Appalachian State University after closing for all classes on Monday. All classes are on a regular schedule for Tuesday.

At Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute’s Watauga campus, they will open at 11 a.m.

Boone recorded 4.3 inches of snow yesterday according to Ray’s Weather, and more is on the way Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The forecast is predicting another 1-3 inches of snow with 3-5 inches at higher elevations. Temperatures will be in the 20’s for most of the day Wednesday.

Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain each received five inches of snow in this latest storm. Banner Elk received 3.8 inches of snow and Newland measured in at 3.3 inches.

A little relief is in sight for those that hate the cold weather. The high temperature on Thursday jumps up into the 50’s and will remain there through the start of next week.

According to Watauga County Superintendent Scott Elliott, there will be no attempt at Saturday school this week due to the Boone Roundball Classic taking place with 156 basketball teams coming to Boone for tournament play.

Snow Scenes from around the Boone area Tuesday morning