By Nathan Ham
So far it has been a very mild winter in the High Country with the warmest temperatures of December being recorded just last week.
According to David Still at Ray’s Weather Center, temperatures flirted with record highs last week but came up just a bit shy.
The record for Christmas Eve in Boone is 63 degrees. Last week, the high on Christmas Eve reached 61 degrees. The warmest Christmas on record was at 62 degrees and the temperature just missed tying that record coming in at 61 degrees. Last week’s temperatures fell well short of the all-time December high record in Boone which was 73 degrees in 1939.
The average high for this time of year in Boone is 45 degrees and the average low is 26 degrees. Temperatures have been well above those averages for seven straight days.
Some areas in the High Country woke up to somewhat peculiar weather readings outside. In some cases, it was 20 degrees warmer on mountain tops than in the valleys during this stretch of warmer weather.
“That kind of inversion, while impressive, isn’t too terribly out of control,” said Still.
Exceptional radiational cooling at night in the valleys with no wind and breezy conditions at the higher elevations keeping the air mixed led to these temperature inversions according to Still.
A return to more normal winter temperatures will happen on Tuesday. According to Ray’s Weather Center, skies will be clear on Tuesday and Wednesday, however, high temperatures are not expected to get out of the 30s on Tuesday and will stop in the lower 40s on Wednesday. Thursday’s forecast shows rainy weather with highs in the mid-40s and Friday temperatures rise into the 50s with rain.
The weekend looks like it might get interesting in the High Country with temperatures turning much colder and precipitation still lingering. As of now, snow showers are expected throughout the day Saturday before clearing off on Sunday. Highs will be in the 30s for both days.