TUESDAY 11 A.M. UPDATE

Birds are all fluffed...or should I say brrrrds?

UPDATE: The plow/salter is in ACA as I type. 

I recorded 3.6 inches of fluff here at the end of Staymon, and still holding at a chilly 19 degrees. This northwest flow event has been perfectly angled right down the I-40 corridor from TN, giving us the higher end of totals. 

Highs today won't reach 32 for most of us, but should get up into the 40s for some Wednesday. 

Thursday night into Friday morning is Round #2, but a trickier rain-to-snow situation.  Assuming the snow will accumulate some, it will be icy underneath (my biggest concern). 

Lest you haven't had enough, Round #3 will come in late Sunday into Monday, but it will be a snow-to-rain situation.  Too early to tell how long that snow will hold on, so just throwing it out there for now.  Feel the excitement...

:-/


Bob

MONDAY NIGHT SNOW

While it's not a big amount, 1-3 inches of snow could fall after dark Monday into the early hours of Tuesday morning.  We're still getting some rain ahead of the cold front that doesn't make it's passage until later on Monday.

ACA is under a Winter Weather Advisory from Monday 7pm until Tuesday 10am.  The 1-3" is what my models are seeing, so I don't see any curveballs.  The ground is warmer, and there may be a bit of light rain before the snow transition, so there could be an icy belly.  Lows will be near 20, with highs just under 32 degrees Tuesday.  Luckily, the temps do rebound within 48 hours.

Yes, there may be another light shot of snow late in the week (Friday), but we'll cross that bridge as we get to it.


Bob

WEATHER AND STUFF

We're under a Wind Advisory from 10am 'til 4am as a cold front plows through.  Rain comes with, most of it falling later today and tonight, so heads up for any trees and limbs that might fall.  While we've been blessed with these milder snow-melting temps, it will be a bit colder, but no snow in the forecast...except...

There will be some snow on the backside of this system, but I think it will hold to elevations above 5,000 feet on the TN border, and be light in accumulation there.  Click HERE to see the snowfall map from the GSP weather office, for the last snow we had.  Areas around Raleigh took home the bacon with 10-12 inches of fluff.

About 530am or so there was a coyote yip-howl somewhere down above the double hairpins to the mirror curve.  It's been a while since they've packed through here.  But as I was typing a little after 6am, they yip-howled about 50 yards from the house on a sort of trail I made, the closest pass I've had in many years.  All that to say take precautions for any cats or dogs you have that are out and about, as they are fair game for those crafty buggers.


Bob

FRIDAY A.M. UPDATE

Good morning, everybody.  I'll be heading all the way down from Staymon Road around 8:30am, and once I'm at school I'll post my road notes in the comments below.  Again, thanks to all who add their reports in as this is very helpful.

While today will be a good melting day, we are still dealing with a basically white road for a lot of Apple Creek Road.  At 5am it was 30 degrees, and now at 7 its 27...far from a deep freeze, so hopefully what salt was put out has been working overnight.

Take it slow and low.


Bob

THURSDAY A.M. UPDATE

I'll be trying to head down Apple Creek Road from Staymon shortly.  Had a low of 3 before midnight, but just got into double digits.  All sun today, and highs in town should go a little above freezing.  Refreeze the next couple of nights, but highs will be getting much warmer as we head into the weekend...and none too soon.

School wi-fi flags Blogger, but I'll try and at least post in the comments section below my experience.  Thanks for all that do post road information...it's extremely helpful to those needing to travel down or up the mountain.


Bob

ROADS ARE BEING PLOWED

As I type, the plower/salter is on the mountain getting Apple Creek Road as well as the side roads.  We are done with precipitation...now it's just a temperature game.  Thanks to Jeff Hintzman, et al, for their road work this winter!


Bob

WEDNESDAY EARLY A.M. UPDATE

Snow has exceeded models as I have at least 3.5 inches at 630am.  Our advisory has been extended until noon, and thankfully the school system called a 'no-day' so I don't feel pressure to get off the mountain today.

While we're used to this, the eastern 2/3 of NC is bracing for multiple inches as well, which is a far bigger deal to them.  Temperatures will be bitter today...I'm at 13 as I type, and highs at least here at the end of Staymon won't see 20 today.  Tonight's lows should be single digits, but the high might hit 32 for some of us.  Friday sees a definite improvement in afternoon highs, and the warming continues into the weekend and beyond.  For now.

If/when I get word on plowing/salting I'll probably start a new post.  For now, the Green Mountain Blueberry Coffee is tasting mighty fine....


Bob

LIGHT SNOW LATER TODAY/ONIGHT

ACA is under a Winter Weather Advisory for elevations above 3500 feet, effective from noon today through 7am Wednesday.  The advisory calls for between 1 and 3 inches, though ACA will most likely hold to around an inch, maybe 2. My two favored models hold us at an inch. What salt is down should help as there is no rain ahead of the snow.

Temperatures should go above freezing for most of us today, and then downright plummet tonight through Thursday morning.  There will be no snow melting unless the salt causes it, and many have discovered how tricky Apple Creek Road is in wintry conditions.  After a low approaching single digits tomorrow morning, highs probably won't get out of the teens Wednesday, with Thursday morning lows back to single digits, most likely.  

Good news is the cold won't hang around nearly as long, with a warming spell in place fully this weekend.



Bob

SUNDAY P.M. UPDATE

Looking uphill on Apple Creek Road @ Staymon

Looking downhill on Apple Creek Road @ Staymon

This morning's HEAVY depositional frost on a container
I had taken outside and accidentally left

After a low of 7 this morning (with THE heaviest deposition frost I've seen in many years) and a high currently of 26, I just drove down to the end of Staymon at Apple Creek Road to check conditions.  The problem is not getting many reports by email or phone about conditions (thanks, Connie and Chris!), so I can only speak about this location.  Lower down the road is more clear per Chris Martin, but up here the pictures speak for themselves.

If I had to get down, I know I could, going slowly in un-used snow.  The tire tracks I checked were solid ice, best to be avoided.  Thankfully Monday is a holiday, so the pressure for some of us to have to try and go down is lessened.

Highs should get above 32 for some of us Monday, but Tuesday is another incoming chance for light accumulating snow and even more bitterly cold temps moving in, albeit for a shorter timeframe.  More on that later


Bob

SLICK CONDITIONS THIS A.M.

Apologies for not getting this out last evening...one of those days.  I've got just a tad under an inch of snow, but underneath it is a crusty icy layer.  Truth be told, I found it a bit grippy as I worked a little on the driveway, but I weigh far less than my 6400 pound SUV.  I'm a ways from Apple Creek Road, so I'll rely on any reports anyone has to offer as to passability this morning.

Picked up 1.78 inches of rain before it switched over, which removed the salt left on the road/driveway.  Temperatures will be below freezing for a few days, with a chance for some of us to go above 32 degrees Monday, which thankfully is a holiday for most of us.

But that's not all.  Another system will move in later Tuesday into Wednesday, but it will be coming from the northwest, not a southern system.  Should we get accumulating snow from it (expected, but light), it will be in the 1-3 inch category.  Models want to lay down 3 inches from Charlotte to Greensboro to Raleigh, so eyes watching that.

The bummer of Tuesday's incoming system is another rock-bottom drop in temperatures, with a low Thursday morning in ACA back down into single digits.  Luckily, temps start to rebound by Friday.


Bob

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

As we pull out of the deep freeze, which I imagine no one will be sad to see leave, we have a window of what would mostly be freezing rain early Monday morning, maybe mixed with a little sleet.  Snow is out of the picture, even if it adds in...overall, this is a minor precipitation event that has big consequences if it comes in as ice, like it did New Year's Eve.

The Winter Weather Advisory is Monday from 5am to 1pm, before the precipitation switches over to all rain as temperatures go and stay above freezing.  Tonight, however, even with the high cloud deck, temps will still fall below freezing one last time (for now).  Assuming the precipitation gets in here early enough, we'll have to deal with this slippery mess for several hours before we wipe our hands clean of this chill.

We still have a nice layer of residual salt on the road (with a huge thanks to Jeff Hintzman and Jacob (?) and brother for their salting of Apple Creek Road) so not expecting big issues with this passing.  The good news is warmer temperatures move in for a while, allowing any frozen pipes to thaw and heating life to return to somewhat of a normal condition.

For the record, my lows the past week have ranged from 1 degree to 6 degrees.  Since 2008, the lowest I've recorded at the end of Staymon has been minus 9 degrees, so no record setter in that regard.  What has been unusual is the duration and depth of the cold.  Happy to see it go, on many levels.

Happy warm up to all y'all...enjoy!


Bob

MONDAY P.M. UPDATE

Happy Frozen New Year, Y'all!
(updated at 230p)

Heavens, but we're starting with a frigid mess this first day of 2018.  My low was 5 degrees and topped out at a balmy 10 degrees. Did pick up close to 0.2" snow overnight, which is sitting on top of the ice layer we picked up yesterday afternoon.  Lots of icy roads still out there in much of western NC.

I just went to Apple Creek Road at the base of Staymon and walked around a bit. 90% of the road there still had an icy glaze, though there were multiple tire tracks.  Did notice it was icier toward the outer edges of the road.  I drove up Apple Creek Road 50 yards or so and turned around, then tapped my brakes coming down and slid, so if folks are getting down the mountain, it's not an easy trek.  I've gotten no other reports, so that's all I have to offer for now. It's a good day to stay hunkered down.


Bob