SNOW UPDATE

The temperature has dropped to 28ﾟat the end of Staymon Road, and the ground and my driveway are all white. Because there was some rain early on, the belly of this snow may well be going to ice very quickly, so be extremely careful if you must travel the mountain.

 The snow machine has come to an end for round one, but the reason the advisory goes until 7:00 in the morning Wednesday is that the National Weather Service is anticipating the northwest flow showers to continue off and on. At the moment, they seem to be relegated to the Tennessee border, but not here...for now.

Feel free to add pertinent road information in the comments below.

HELLO, FIRST SHOT OF WINTER!

Ah, 'tis the season, eh?  While all the long-term forecasts point to a mild-ish winter, there will always be shots of arctic air and snows, regardless.  Incoming tonight is our first solid chance of bitter cold and snow, albeit light amounts overall.

We've got a fair number of new residents in Apple Creek, so others forgive me for my repetitive remarks.  Give me 2-4 inches of snow and I'll drive up and down Apple Creek in 4WD without too much trouble.  Give me 0.25" or 1/2", and I might not make it.  With the thin layer, wheels will compact the snow to ice quickly, and nobody can negotiate icy roads. We have some deceivingly steep sections here and there, so always TAKE YOUR TIME AND GO SLOWLY.  2WD, even if FWD, has a poor success rating on our roads when 'white'.

From our mild temps even as I type at 430pm, they will crash well before sunrise to near/below freezing....and perfectly timed with the incoming precipitation with the cold front.  IF it starts as liquid, it will quickly transition to snow, and temperatures will more than likey hold steady at daybreak and then fall through the afternoon and night down into the teens for Wednesday morning.  Roads will deteriorate tomorrow morning as there will be no opportunity for melting until some Wednesday afternoon.  Here's the scoop...

Per the National Weather Service (NWS), ACA is under a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY (click for link) from 4am Tuesday through 7am Wednesday. The Advisory is for 1-2" in the valleys and 2-4" above 3500'. ACA's 3500' mark is the "blue roof house", and it is a crazy but accurate demarcation point in many of our snows.  This will be a "northwest flow event" that will be highly dependent on the moisture flow lines per accumulations.  If it's more WNW, amounts cut back for us; if it's true NW or NNW, we can pick up more than expected.  I'll be updating in the morning as I should be back on the mountain by 3am, crossing fingers.

I'm siding with my GFS model which is more towards 1" in the valley and 2" to a borderline 3" if not here then very close to ACA.  Regardless, temps crash, some snow falls and sticks on roads, and we hunker down for a VERY cold Tuesday.  Haywood County Schools will have an interesting call to make...a 10am early dismissal may be too late for roads in the northern part of the county, so I'm anticipating either a 'delay' to be followed by cancelation, or an outright cancelation by daybreak.

More than likely, I'll put up a new post in the morning once I see what's upon us.

Bob

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING...

Talk about going from feast to famine…or rather, from famine to feast.  The onslaught of rain this week, heavy at times, has done a whammy on doing some gravel road erosion but also in knocking leaves off of the trees. It was bound to happen as dry as we were before. With this heavy rain falling the coating of leaves on our roads is pretty impressive, and not in a good way. The temperatures are supposed to plummet to night below freezing and although the dryer frigid air may evaporate a lot of the liquid, I well imagine some areas will be icy-slippery early in the morning. Please use caution and take care if you are heading down early in the day, like many of us are here up on the mountain.

 If there is any pertinent information to update with, I'll put it on early in the morning. Tis the season…!

PAVING UPDATE!!!

Word just came in and that paving is to be starting this coming Tuesday after Monday, Labor Day. If there are any changes or additional information, I'll post them in a timely manner here. As always, there will be signs posted down at the entrance to Apple Creek Acres, as well.

Bob

HOA UPDATE: SAVE FOR CONTACTS

Passing on information on our new HOA board; please bookmark for future reference.

‐----------------------------

New officers and their contact information:

President
Jeff Hintzman jeffhintzman@att.net

Vice President for Roads
Keith Patton 456-8895

Vice President for Administration
Lauren Roth lrothwell7@gmail.com

Treasurer
Carrie Patton carriescollier@yahoo.com

Secretary
Melinda Owens melindaowens40@gmail.com

*The HOA has received numerous complaints about speeding on our roads. We request that everyone abide by the 15 MPH limit.

*Bear Hunting and the poaching of Ginseng are illegal in Apple Creek Acres. Anyone who observes these activities or strange vehicles parked on our roads is asked to call the Haywood County Sheriffs Department 452-6666.

* Winter is coming and we would like to remind all residents that salt may not be used on gravel roads.

----------------------------

Per paving, weather is one of our nemeses. When we have confirmation of dates, we will get that information out ASAP.

Welcome to our new residents!  We hope you love it here as much as we do. :) I will post later on my Winter outlook ahead, but for now please bookmark this site so you can reference information  as it becomes available.


Bob

ANNUAL MEETING: PROXIES

By now everyone should have received the notification of our annual HOA meeting and attached proxy. It is critical that, if you aren't attending the meeting, you mail in your proxy, giving someone of your choosing the power to officially vote for you. If a quorum is not reached by the start of the meeting, then no action can be taken voting wise.

Lest I forget, welcome to our newest residents! It is not the easiest to meet everyone unless you luck into them on the road. The annual meeting is a great place to start!  Mark your calendars on SATURDAY AUGUST 10, starting at 10am, @ the Waynesville Library (lower level).

Again, if you can't make it (like me), please send your proxy in using the stamped envelope provided (like I did). Thanks in advance for your participation.  :-)


Bob

WICKED STORM LINE DOES DAMAGE

Short post from my phone...a nasty bow-line echo moved through between 2 and 3am, with typical howling winds. As I started down Staymon, a tree was across the road with wires all around. The top of a power pole and transformer are down near that, as well. I imagine there is more damage on the mountain, but it's early yet. Make sure you never get near downed wires. As I write, estimated return of power is 8am, but that won't be the case with the end of Staymon.

Bob