The sun returned to the mountains today, unveiling a stunning winter wonderland in the highest elevations. This afternoon, we hiked the Appalachian Trail at Roan Mountain after receiving 20 inches of snow and plenty of rime ice to whiten the trees. Hurricane / Superstorm Sandy brought three days of snow in an unusual October snow storm. While the snow never laid on the ground in the city of Asheville, more than a foot of snow was just 20 miles away in the higher elevations. Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park received three feet of snow! See more snow photos from the “Frankenstorm.”
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Frankenstorm Sandy brings Blizzard to NC High Mountains
Hurricane Sandy (also known at Frankenstorm) is bringing a very rare October blizzard to the North Carolina mountains. This photo was taken this afternoon at Carver’s Gap at Roan Mountain (elevation 5,500 feet) where a blizzard will drop one to two feet of snow. Much lower accumulations are expected in the Asheville, North Carolina area. High winds and snow are expected through Tuesday. Watch a video of the blizzard at http://youtu.be/OeDMtj8ER-Y.
Big Snow Coming to the North Carolina Mountains
TRAVEL SNOW ALERT! Winter is arriving early with heavy snow in the higher elevations of our mountains on Monday & Tuesday. Dangerous Blizzard conditions (with more than a foot of snow and 50+ MPH wind) is a good bit for high spots like Mt Mitchell, Grandfather Mtn and Beech Mtn. Several inches are possible in mid-level elevations like Banner Elk and much of the Blue Parkway (much of it will close). DO NOT CAMP. High winds over all the mountains and frigid wind chills. Asheville will get snow showers but probably not much sticking, so roads should be fine in the city and valley towns.
See more wintry snow scenes from atop Roan Mountain from a previous winter.