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The High Country Has Hit a Cold Snap; How Does Your Area Compare with the Rest of the High Country?

by Madison V. Fisler

Many residents are shoveling show already
Many residents are shoveling show already

Jan. 22, 2014. Brr, we sure hope you stayed warm last night, as temperatures broke first into the single digits and crept toward zero once the sun went down for many places in the High Country. 

The entirety of the High Country is still under a wind chill advisory today, as temperatures are still well below freezing in most places and the wind is blowing with gusts up to 25 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. 

While the temperatures in many places hover in the single digits and low-teens, wind chill factors remain at 5-10 below. 

As of 10 a.m. Boone temperature stands at 6 degrees, Blowing Rock at 5, Valle Crucis at 8, an App Ski Mtn at an impressive 4 degrees. 

For reference, in Anchorage Alaska, it is 34 degrees right now. In the Raleigh area, temperatures are currently hovering right   below freezing and in the Charlotte area, temperatures are around 26 degrees. In Wilmington, temperatures are expected to reach 39 degrees. 

Despite the snow accumulation that began around 10 a.m. yesterday morning, by morning commute time today most of the main roads in the area were plowed and cleared of most snow. Drivers were still cautioned to watch out for patches of ice, and early this morning glares caused by the reflection of the sun off of the wet roads caused some drivers some trouble. 

As for the coldest temperatures reached last night, Beech Mountain and the top of Sugar Mountain both got down to four degrees below zero.

In Watauga County, Snake Mountain also got down to four below zero, the coldest temperature reached in the county overnight, while Boone and Blowing Rock hovered just above five degrees. The highest wind gust in the area was reported in Boone, at 20 miles per hour, according to Ray’s Weather Center. 

Precipitation in all areas in the High Country stopped by midnight.

For more information about weather in the High Country, visit Ray’s Weather here.