Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
If the rain wasn’t your thing, welcome to the mountains, where there’s always something new on the weather menu.
Next up: One to six inches of snow for Thursday in WNC, according to the National Weather Service, with Ray’s Weather calling for one to three inches for the Asheville area.
My latest weather intel is that there’ll be a change from rain to snow tomorrow in the late afternoon, and that Asheville proper–not just the higher elevations–will get from one to several inches of snow.
Looks like snow will affect Thursday’s commute home. Look out for hazardous driving conditions and power outages/downed lines due to heavy, wet snow.
From the National Weather Service:
…SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS THURSDAY…
.LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA LATE TONIGHT…SPREADING ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIPITATION INTO THE WESTERN CAROLINAS. THIS LOW WILL STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES ACROSS CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA ON THURSDAY. AS THIS OCCURS…COLDER AIR WILL BEGIN FILTERING INTO THE FAR WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. THIS IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN A QUICK TRANSITION TO SNOW ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS…ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE TENNESSEE BORDER COUNTIES. HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE…
ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS…INCLUDING THE PIGEON RIVER VALLEY AND THE LOWER FRENCH BROAD VALLEY…AS WELL AS IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS.
…WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING.
* LOCATIONS…THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
* HAZARDS…HEAVY SNOW.
* TIMING…A TRANSITION FROM RAIN TO SNOW IS EXPECTED BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 3 TO 6 INCHES. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGH ELEVATIONS ALONG THE TENNESSEE BORDER.
* IMPACTS…SNOWFALL CREATING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. HEAVY WET SNOW MAY PULL DOWN POWER LINES IN SOME AREAS.
* TEMPERATURES…FALLING TO THE LOWER AND MID 30S BY AFTERNOON.
* WINDS…NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.
NWS Winter Storm Warning link here.
As well as Buncombe, other counties affected include Avery, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Swain and Yancey.