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Temperatures Turn Cold and Snow is in the Forecast for Wednesday Night and Thursday

Snow fell around this time of year last year as well.

By Nathan Ham

Spring temperatures will revert back to some cold, wintery conditions over the next couple of days in the High Country with lows in the teens and snowfall expected.

According to the latest forecast from Ray’s Weather Center, highs will reach near 60 on Wednesday before a sharp decline in temperatures in the evening and overnight. Showers and thunderstorms will turn to snow showers overnight and winds will pick up, gusting up to 50 MPH.

On Thursday, the high will struggle to get above freezing with a high of 33 predicted for Boone. Snow showers will continue throughout the day before clearing off overnight. Friday will be clear but cold with a high of 39.

Most areas will receive just a light dusting of snow, however, higher elevations could see up to three inches near the North Carolina and Tennessee border.

This is the second straight year that snow and cold have invaded the High Country on April Fool’s Day.

With the warm weather over the past few days, some outdoor plans have started to bloom, which is not a good sign with a bitter cold snap happening in 24 hours.

“Any plants that people have in pots, they should move indoors. Any outdoor plants, especially fruit-bearing plants where you can see the buds starting to form, the best you can do is cover them with sheets or blankets,” said Jim Hamilton, the Watauga County Extension Director. “With the recent warm weather we’ve had, a lot of these plants got a wakeup call, but they should have hit the snooze button.”

Hamilton advised that anyone wanting to put out their plants should wait until Mother’s Day to be safe in avoiding any spring freezes.

“You really should hold off to plant unless you have a greenhouse or some other structure to keep the frost from killing them,” he said. “Most producers here know and understand the weather enough that anything they have in production is either inside or they have a game plan for what to do with a frost.”