Last Night’s Bitter Cold: Real Temps Below -10 Degrees on Mountaintops, -46 Degree Wind Chill Atop Grandfather

 

By Jesse Wood

Jan. 8, 2015. The wood stove at my house was working overtime as the subzero temperatures depleted cherished locust logs.

The coldest temps in the High Country, of course, were on the mountaintops such as Snake Mountain, Beech Mountain, Grandfather Mountain and Sugar Mountain. Residents of Beech and Sugar Mountain felt temps – if they were outside at around midnight – in excess of negative 11 degrees, according to RaysWeather.com

And that doesn’t include the wind-chill factor.

On Grandfather Mountain, for example, the wind chill was negative 46.1 degrees at midnight – at which time the regular temperature was negative 10.3 degrees. The wind was blowing at 54.2 miles per hour with gusts of up to 80.3 miles per hour at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, according to data from the State Climate Office.

Similarly, Beech Mountain had a wind chill of negative 41.1 degrees at 1 a.m. on Thursday and Boone’s wind chill dipped to negative 25.5 at about 2 a.m. on Thursday. Boone featured a high wind gust of 40.3 miles per hour and wind speed of 28.8 miles per hour at about 1 a.m.

Below are low temps from Wednesday night and Thursday morning from around the High Country, courtesy of RaysWeather.com – unless noted otherwise.

Appalachian Ski Mtn.

Jan. 7: -2.6 degrees at 11:54 p.m.

Jan. 8: -4.8 degrees at 4:44 a.m.

Banner Elk

Jan. 7: -1.6 degrees at 11:41 p.m.

Jan. 8: -4.8 degrees at 6:47 a.m.

Beech Mountain

Jan. 7: -9.9 degrees at 11:48 degrees

Jan. 8: -11.4 degrees at 3:35 a.m.

Boone:

Jan. 7: 0.7 degrees at 11:47 p.m.

Jan. 8: -2 degrees at 6:11 a.m.

Blowing Rock

Jan. 7: -1 degrees at 11:48 p.m.

Jan. 8: -3.3 degrees at 7:24 a.m.

Deep Gap

Jan. 7: 1.3 degrees at 11:53 p.m.

Jan. 8: 0 degrees at 4:05 a.m.

Foscoe

Jan. 7: 1.3 degrees at 11:48 p.m.

Jan. 8: -0.2 degrees at 3:30 a.m.

Grandfather Mountain (N.C. Climate Office Data)

Jan. 7: -9.8 degrees at 11 p.m.

Jan. 8: -11.9 degrees at 4 a.m.

Seven Devils:

Jan. 7: -1.7 degrees at 11:54 p.m.

Jan. 8: -3.2 degrees at 7:35 a.m.

Snake Mountain:

Jan. 7: -7.8 degrees at 11:53 p.m.

Jan. 8 -10.1 degrees at 4:23 a.m.

Sugar Mountain Top

Jan. 7: -9.2 degrees at 11:41 p.m.

Jan. 8: -11.1 degrees at 4:29 a.m.

Valle Crucis

Jan. 7: 4.1 degrees at 10:41 p.m.

Jan. 8: 0.5 degrees at 6:29 a.m.

Zionville

Jan. 7: 0.8 degrees at 11:48 p.m.

Jan. 8: -2.6 degrees at 6:36 a.m.