WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

ACA is now under a Winter Weather Advisory for locations above 3500' from 7pm tonight through noon Friday.  For those up here, you've felt the temperature drop this afternoon (34 as I type near 3:45pm), with whippy winds that have brought down numerous dead limbs on our roads. In addition, a Wind Advisory is in place through 6pm Friday, with these gusty winds continuing.

My favored models still hold a dusting-1", but the National Weather Service sees something more in the 1"-2" category.  Probably closer to the TN border, but if the upslope snow showers come SE directly inline with I-40, we could see close to that.  Heavier snow could cover our roads, at least in part, but if these winds stay up, it will also keep it from accumulating in spots.  Highs Friday are expected to stay in the 30s.

All that to say we may well have some slick roads on at least the upper half of Apple Creek Road overnight into Friday morning.  For our new residents, that magical 3500' line is the Moskos family's blue roof house on AC Road at Dawen Circle.  Often you'll see big changes above and below that location.

The weekend has a warm-up in store with solid rain chances Sunday and Monday.  In the previous post today, I mentioned 'snow' afoot in the long-term forecast around January 5-6 late next week.  More on that as the time approaches.


Bob

2016: Quick Wrap

I hope this post finds everyone continuing to enjoy the holidays. Been rather quiet on the mountain, and thankfully rains returned to our forecasts after the devastating Gatlinburg (and other) fires since the last post.

Back several weeks we had a solid shot of Arctic air where lows got into the lower teens a couple of mornings...but to date we have not had even a skiff of snow, and temperatures have returned to the mild side of the fence.  In fact, on Christmas evening it was still 52 degrees at 8pm....quite the contrast to 6 years ago when we got 9" of snow in ACA!

Christmas 2010 @ end of Staymon Rd.

Late tonight, there is a limited chance for a dusting-1" snow...with our warm ground temps, should the snow even fall, I don't foresee any travel issues getting off the mountain.  Pretty minor set-up.  

If you want to see a decent snow, you may well get your wish the end of next week, January 5-6.  Preliminary outlooks suggest 4"-7" of snow, but with so many variables this far out, just a heads up for now.

May you all continue to have a safe and enjoyable holiday, and best wishes for a grand start to 2017!  I'll be posting weather/travel updates closer to any event that may be heading our way.

Bob

EARLY DECEMBER UPDATE

SUNRISE, end of Staymon

Well, we've gone from famine to feast, at least kinda sorta...light rain is falling as I type.  We got just just over 2.25" late last week over a few days, and already have more with rain that started Sunday with 0.27" by 7am. This after a bit of a strong drought here in Haywood County.  The fires have been devastating, especially in east Tennessee, but Haywood County has been spared all along.  Hopefully all this rain has at the very least tamed the fires...

For starters, here is an excellent website showing before and after aerial pictures of the Gatlinburg area where at last count 11 people died, along with numerous structures. Click on GATLINBURG FIRES . You slide the bar left and right to see the before and after pictures.

Wintry weather has been slow to manifest this season, but we have a very good chance of seeing a dusting this coming Thursday evening.  Lows will approach the single digits Friday morning, by far the coldest of the season, so make sure your well-head is well insulated.  It won't last long, thankfully.  For those new to the mountain and ACA, a light coating on the road is troublesome for drivers in ACA.  I would like to think there will be no troubles early Friday morning, but I'll update later this week if I see changes/concerns.

In all, we've been fortunate, and the recent rains will only help our wells.  I'll update as needed, of course.


Bob