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Boone Ties High Temperature Record for March, Breaks Record for March 28

Bradford Pear trees outside of East Coast Metal Distributors on Highway 105 on Saturday.

By Nathan Ham

This past weekend brought lots of sunshine and warm temperatures to the High Country, including new record highs and near-record highs.

Boone had the warmest March 28 on record with a high of 80.5 degrees at 4:57 p.m. That record also tied the all-time record for the month, set previously on March 25, 1929, according to data provided by Ray’s Weather Center.

Beech Mountain broke its record high for the month of March by five degrees. The previous record of 71 degrees was set on March 31, 1998. On Saturday, Beech Mountain recorded a high temperature of 76.8 degrees at 3:55 p.m.

In Newland, they just missed a record high temperature by about three degrees. Saturday’s high was 82.2 degrees at 1:53 p.m. The record for Newland is 85 degrees.

In neighboring Ashe County, West Jefferson set a new record high for March 28 with a high of 81.2 degrees at 1:54 p.m. The previous high for that date was 76 degrees in 1989. The temperature fell short of the all-time March record in West Jefferson, which is 85 degrees set on March 25, 1929.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, Tuesday and Wednesday look to be a complete opposite of the nice weather over the weekend, according to the latest forecast. Tuesday will start with rain and even mix with some snow late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. High temperatures will be in the lower 40s.

Clouds and precipitation move out of the area on Wednesday afternoon with a nice, sunny end to the week. High temperatures will be around 55 degrees on Thursday and 61 degrees on Friday. Highs will be in the lower 60s over the weekend with a slight chance of a shower each day.