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Howling Winds Add Bite to Bitter Cold Temperatures, Beech Mountain Records About 5 Inches of Snow

All things considering the roads were decent condition on Friday morning. Photo by Ken Ketchie
All things considering the roads were decent condition on Friday morning. Photo by Ken Ketchie

By Jesse Wood

Jan. 3, 2014. The howling winds last night blew about the inches of snowfall in the High Country and brought a wind chill that was well below zero degrees.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, the low, single-digit temperatures in the area  looked more like the scores from a figure skating competition:

  • Newland: 4.8 degrees
  • Boone: 7.9
  • Banner Elk: 6.3
  • Linville Ridge: 1.5
  • App Ski Mountain: 4.5
  • Blowing Rock: 6.7
  • Foscoe: 9.7
  • Beech Mountain: -1.6
  • Sugar Mountain Top: -1.7
  • Deep Gap: 9.2
  • Snake Mountain: -0.8
Photo by Ken Ketchie
Photo by Ken Ketchie

RaysWeather.com reported in its daily forecast Friday morning that snow totals were within the forecast range of one to three inches for most of Boone and three to six inches “on the west side of the Appalachians.”

The Weather Station at Fred’s General Mercantile atop Beech Mountain recorded “about 5 inches,” according to staff. Sugar Mountain Resort has received four inches of snow in the last 24 hours, according to its website.

This morning, BREMCO reported that more than 500 members, mostly in Caldwell County and a small percentage in Ashe County, were affected last night by power outages caused by high winds.

While Saturday and Sunday will be provide a relative dose of warmth, the temperatures take a drastic turn soon – with highs dropping more than 30 degrees from Sunday to Tuesday.

Forecasters predict below zero temps without wind chill. This would be the coldest temps the High Country has felt in nearly 20 years.