By Nathan Ham
It felt like a mild winter in the High Country, and the snowfall statistics in the area certainly back that up.
According to snowfall totals provided by Ray’s Weather Center, Boone received just 9.1 inches of snow between the first measurable snowfall on November 12 through the last trace amount of snow recorded on April 10.
The largest single-day snow total during the 2019-20 winter season happened on February 20 where two inches of snow fell. In total, only four days during the winter season saw an inch or more of snow (December 2, February 20, February 27, February 28).
This winter, Beech Mountain recorded 42.9 inches of snow with the largest single-day total coming on February 29 when five inches of snow fell in the town. Last winter, Beech Mountain had 52.2 inches of snow and in 2017-18, Beech had 64.6 inches of snow.
Sugar Mountain had 66.2 inches of snow this winter with two days, January 27 and February 7, each having five inches of snow for the largest single-day total. This total fell just short of last year’s total of 66.8 inches. In 2017-18, Sugar Mountain had 78 inches of snow.
For those of you waiting to see how many golf balls are going to be predicted for a given day this spring, that moment won’t be too far away.
“There is not an exact science for when we remove the Snowman-O-Meter. It’s just based on when we are absolutely sure the pattern is not conducive for the mention of any more snow,” said David Still at Ray’s Weather Center.
Still says that it is typically at the end of April when the Snowman-O-Meter exits the High Country for the spring, summer and fall months. You may have noticed the snowman has been retired for the season on the foothills and southwestern mountains weather forecast websites.