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High Country Receives Dusting to 3.5 Inches Over Night, See Snow Totals for 2016-17 Season So Far

Snowfall caps the mountaintops in the view from Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute’s Watauga Campus in Boone. Photo by Ken Ketchie

By Jesse Wood

The High Country received a dusting to nearly four inches of snow over night.

For the 2016-17 winter season so far, snow totals in the High Country range from 11.6 inches in Boone to 29.3 inches atop Sugar Mountain and 30.8 inches atop Beech Mountain, according to RaysWeather.com.

Though the snowfall through mid February is less than half of what the High Country has seen on average over the past several years, more snowfalls are certainly to come through March and possibly even early May.

Consider that during the 2012-13 winter season, 18 to 20 snowstorms occurred after Valentine’s Day in Boone, Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain.

Below are full season totals for the past five years with the number of snowstorms that occurred after Valentine’s Day, according to archives of RaysWeather.com.

Boone

  • 2016-17: 11.6 inches SO FAR
  • 2015-16: 25.1 inches; 8 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2014-15: 27.7 inches; 10 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2013-14: 37.8 niches; 10 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2012-13: 36.1 inches; 20 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2011-12: 13.7 inches; 4 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14

Beech Mountain

  • 2016-17: 30.8 inches SO FAR
  • 2015-16: 69.8 inches; 11 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2014-15: 68.7 inches; 10 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2013-14: 76.2 inches; 9 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2012-13: 104.9 inches; 18 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2011-12: 48.7 inches; 6 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14

Sugar Mountain

  • 2016-17: 29.3 inches SO FAR
  • 2015-16: 66 inches; 8 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2014-15: 77.3 inches; 11 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2013-14: 86.5 inches; 9 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2012-13: 120 inches; 18 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14
  • 2011-12: 48.5 inches; 6 snowstorms occurred after Feb. 14