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High Country Begins Digging Out From 16 Plus Inches of Snow as Skies Start to Clear on Monday

Snow flurries ended Monday morning after dropping another couple of inches of snow throughout the night. Skies are clearing and temperatures are rising above freezing. The main roads are in good shape this morning with back roads still very snow covered and fairly slick. Town of Boone crews were busy in Downtown Boone moving out massive piles of snow. Jim Cantore and his Weather Channel crew were packing up this morning and heading back to Atlanta.

Ray’s Weather Website reported this morning, “The big snow is over, but a trailing upper-level disturbance produces light snow across Western NC. Light snow began late Sunday night and will end by noon today. An additional 1″-3″ of snow is expected. Speaking of snow totals, I had 17″ as of 3 PM yesterday and an additional .5″ at 5 AM today. From the big event yesterday in NW NC, I heard totals ranging from 14″ to 22″. That makes it the biggest snow since 1998 (and for a few spots since 1996). It does NOT rival the Blizzard of ’93.”

See Ray’s forecast here: http://booneweather.com/Forecast/Boone

Winter Storm Diego pounded the High Country from Saturday night through early Monday morning, leaving much of the area with a bad case of cabin fever.

The National Weather Service is reporting that Jefferson got 19 inches of snow, Beech Mountain received 16 inches of snow and Boone got 15 inches of snow. These numbers are reported from official NWS weather stations. Other preliminary snow totals indicate that Piney Creek in Alleghany County got 20.5 inches of snow, Sugar Mountain got 20 inches of snow, Meat Camp and Lenoir both had 18 inches, Fleetwood ended up with 14 inches and Hickory got 14 inches.

Numerous school systems in western North Carolina are closed today. For Watauga, school is closed for students, faculty and staff and will be an annual leave day. Tonight’s Watauga County School Board meeting has been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, December 13 at 6 p.m.

A morning update provided by Blue Ridge Energy said that there were 169 customers without power as of 6 a.m. 68 members are without power in Wilkes County, 55 members in Ashe County are without power and 46 are without power in Caldwell.

NCDOT crews and contractors have been working around the clock in attempts to keep roads clear. According to a Facebook post from the Town of Boone Police Department, they responded to 56 stranded motorists on Sunday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and still recommend that motorists stay off the roads if at all possible while the NCDOT continues to trea

Below is a compiled list of closing and cancellations

Town of Boone offices are closed on Monday

Appalachian State University has suspended operations until 6 a.m. Tuesday

Boone United Methodist Church Preschool is closed on Monday

First Morning Out Preschool is closed on Monday

Lucy Brock Child Development is closed on Monday

Mountain Pathways School is closed on Monday

Two Rivers School is closed on Monday

Wildwood Agile Learning Community is closed on Monday

Christian Outreach Food Distribution will not operate on Monday

Boone Area Chamber of Commerce is closed on Monday

The Children’s Council is closed on Monday

WAMY Community Action is closed on Monday

Watauga County Health Department is closed on Monday

Watauga County Public Library is closed on Monday

Blowing Rock CARES food pantry is closed on Monday

BB&T Bank is closed on Monday

Antiques on Howard is closed on Monday

Appalachian Antique Mall is closed on Monday

Be Natural Market is closed on Monday

Blue Ridge Dentistry is closed on Monday

Blue Ridge Ear, Nose & Throat is closed on Monday

Boone Dermatology Clinic is closed on Monday

Boone Physical Therapy is closed on Monday

Capital Bank is closed on Monday

Carolina Farm Credit is closed on Monday

Community Care Clinic is closed on Monday

Coyote Kitchen is closed on Monday

Cregger Company is closed on Monday

Dan’l Boone Inn Restaurant is closed on Monday

Daymark Recovery Services is closed on Monday

F.A.R.M. Cafe is closed on Monday

First Citizens Bank is closed on Monday

Farm Bureau Insurance is closed on Monday

Graystone Eye is closed on Monday

High Country Neurology is closed on Monday

High Country Cleaning Services is closed on Monday

LifeStore Banking and Insurance is closed on Monday

Highlands Union Bank is closed on Monday

M-Prints is closed on Monday

Northwestern Regional Housing Authority is closed on Monday

Broyhill Wellness Center is closed on Monday

Pet Care Clinic of the High Country is closed on Monday

Piedmont Federal Savings Bank is closed on Monday

Red Onion Cafe is closed on Monday

Skyline National Bank is closed on Monday

State Employees Credit Union is closed on Monday

United Community Bank of Blowing Rock is closed on Monday

The Pet Place is closed on Monday

Wells Fargo Bank is closed on Monday

Western Carolina Eye Associates is closed on Monday

Walmart is closed on Monday

 

Pictures from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Monday morning: