"BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES..."

The Easter Tree, Lake Junaluska (click to enlarge)

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody.  We've got a passel of severe weather heading our way that I want to talk about and share with you.  Before I go into details and timing, the National Weather Service has a nice catch-all .pdf on what's ahead for us in ACA, with good self-explanatory graphics you can walk yourself through.  Click HERE to access it.

After what was a rather 'quiet' March in terms of weather, the first half of April has been more raucous, none more than tonight.  Strong cold fronts have been able to dive through the south from the northwest, and this low heading our way is expansive, with heavy snows to the north and tornadoes down in the south-central states.  I was afraid tonight's storms might take out a lot of the blooms around, so wanted to get some pics before that might happen.

Dogwood, Lake Junaluska (click to enlarge)

My concerns are with wind-related damages, be it power outages, trees down across roads and driveways...several years ago, a top of a tree flew down and totaled my car sitting in the driveway.  No fun, there.  Heavy rains and lightning should also grace us with their presence, which means fur-baby Maisy will be in my face going, "Dad! Dad!  Look! Storms! Dad! Dad!"  Maybe some of you can relate.

Bleeding Heart, Lake Junaluska (click to enlarge)

The strongest of the storms should move through in the 12am-4am window here in ACA, though a few storms and certainly rain will be around well before then.  In western North Carolina, the Storm Prediction Center of the NWS has us in both the yellow "slight" category here as well as the orange "enhanced" category in the southwestern toe.  Don't be fooled by the 'slight' wording...storms may be more hit and miss, but they will certainly be around.

Yet another cold front will pass through mid-week, once again bringing the chance for lows right at 32 degrees Thursday morning.  Luckily, cold temps like that can't hang around long at this time of the year.

Be safe, stay well.  Wildflower post coming in a few days.



Bob