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Grandfather Mountain Sets New Record for Highest Recorded Wind Gust of 121.3 MPH

Photo by Tommy Oakley | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation

By Nathan Ham

The high winds that continue to blow in the High Country brought a new record wind gust to Grandfather Mountain early Wednesday Morning.

At around 4 a.m. this morning, the weather station at Grandfather Mountain’s Mile High Swinging Bridge had a gust recorded at 121.3 MPH, breaking the previous record of 120.7 MPH set at 7 a.m. on December 21, 2012.

Over a 24-hour span at Grandfather Mountain, wind gusts jumped from 34 MPH at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning to the new record o 121.3 MPH this morning.

The first triple digit wind gust of the morning was recorded just after midnight with a gust of 106.2. A wind gust of 100.6 MPH was recorded as late at 7 a.m.

A High Wind Warning issued by the National Weather Service will continue through 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening.

According to data provided by Ray’s Weather Center, the highest gust recorded at the Boone weather station this morning was 41 MPH at 6:11 a.m. and the highest gust in Blowing Rock was 47 MPH at 7:46 a.m. A wind gust of 56 MPH was recorded at Snake Mountain at 2:46 a.m. At Sugar Mountain, a gust of 38 MPH was recorded at 9:16 a.m.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, temperatures will warm up Thursday and Friday with highs in the mid 50s. Rain showers will move back into the forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Weekend temperatures will drop back into the mid 40s.