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Snow Arriving in the High Country Late Wednesday Afternoon; Winter Weather Advisory and Wind Advisory Issued

By Nathan Ham

The High Country should expect to see varying amounts of snow over the next four days, according to the latest forecast update from Ray’s Weather Center.

Temperatures will start to take a drastic drop on Wednesday afternoon. As of 11 a.m., temperatures in Boone were still in the lower 50s. As the day continues on, temperatures will drop into the 30s and a brief bit of afternoon rain will quickly turn into snow showers this evening. Winds will also pick up speeds with gusts reaching over 50 MPH throughout most of the area.

On Thursday, snow showers will continue through the morning before clearing off Thursday evening into Friday morning. Another round of snow rolls through the High Country on Friday night and Saturday morning before clearing off Saturday afternoon. Sunday looks to be the nicest day of the weekend with highs in the upper 40s and plenty of sunshine.

Snow accumulations will range anywhere from a dusting up to four inches and even locally higher amounts possible, depending on elevation. The bigger snow totals will be at higher elevations and on western slopes.

This winter has been a quiet one for the most part, particularly in the areas around 3,000-3,500 feet. After a couple of inches of snow fell last week, Boone has now recorded just 6.3 inches of snow from the start of November until now. Last week, Beech Mountain received 4.5 inches of snow to push their season total to 31.9 inches and Sugar Mountain had five inches of snow as their season total gets closer to the 50-inch mark. Currently, Sugar Mountain has recorded 49.2 inches of snow.

As the winter weather approaches, the National Weather Service has issued both a Winter Weather Advisory until noon on Thursday and a Wind Advisory through 7 p.m. on Thursday. The NWS is expecting snow accumulations of 1-3 inches with areas over 4,000 feet receiving five inches of snow. They are also expecting sustained winds to be from 15-30 MPH with gusts over 50 MPH throughout the night Wednesday and throughout the day on Thursday.