Snow expected in North Carolina. Here’s where first fluffy stuff of season could fall.
The season’s first snow is expected in North Carolina beginning late Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologists said Sunday.
“Light snow showers are possible late tonight in higher elevations of the mountains above 5,000 feet,” according to an NWS hazardous weather outlook bulletin at 3:12 p.m. Sunday for 10 mountain counties.
“No significant accumulation is expected, but very minor travel impacts could occur Monday morning on high mountain roads,” NWS meteorologists said in the alert.
The light snow showers could continue at times through Monday night, including in Asheville, according to the bulletin. Boone is just to the north of the warning area.
An alert also was issued for the eastern Tennessee mountains.
The snowfall area includes Mt. Mitchell, meteorologist Clay Chaney of the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, told The Charlotte Observer on Saturday.
At 6,684 feet, Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak in the eastern United States. The mountain is in Yancey County near Burnsville, about 128 northwest of Charlotte.
“It’s our first real chance of snow this season,” Chaney said.
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Slopes facing northwest are most likely to see up to a half-inch, Chaney said.
‘Knocking on the door’
Snow emerged with a cold front from the west and winds from the northwest, Chaney said.
“The front is knocking on the door right now on the Tennessee-North Carolina line,” Chaney said just before 4 p.m. Saturday.
Light accumulations are likely on Mt. Mitchell, Clingmans Dome, Roan Mountain and peaks in the Great Balsam Mountains. The Balsams are near the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary.
Too warm for snow elsewhere
Temperatures elsewhere in the state should be too warm for snow late Sunday and early Monday, according to the NWS forecast at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Charlotte’s low temperature should hover in the mid- to high 40s through Thursday before climbing into the 50s, the forecast showed. Those temps are about 10 degrees higher than what the NWS forecast on Saturday.
Charlotte reached 64 at 3 p.m. Sunday. Expect highs of 62 Monday, 66 Tuesday, 69 Wednesday, 71 Thursday, 70 Friday, 67 Saturday and 68 Sunday, Oct. 22, according to the NWS. Skies should be sunny all week.
Raleigh and Durham should be all sunshine until Friday, the NWS forecast at 4 p.m. Sunday showed.
Highs are predicted to climb from 61 Monday to 66 Tuesday, 69 Wednesday and 72 on Thursday, before dipping with a 50% chance of rain to 70 degrees on Friday and 67 degrees Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 22, the forecast showed.
Lows in the mid- to upper 40s are forecast through Thursday before improving to the mid-50s in Raleigh, according to the NWS forecast.
