Yesterday was a mild day where temps rocketed to plus 50° under sunny skies and skiing or snowboarding had to be fantastic. You probably had to peel a few layers off and if you liked that, today and Thursday will be more of the same. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Last year on February 15th, we had a high of 48° and a low of 33° with no snow and that’s about what we should expect from today. Funny how that works!
The records for February 15th in weather history around this reporting station of Banner Elk are:
The record high was 74° set back in 1989.
The record low was minus 1° in 1960.
The most snow was 9” back in 1991.
The normal highs and lows for today are 46° and 25° and we’re not going to be too far above that, but temps are likely to creep close if not just above 52° today.
Wednesday and Thursday will be sunny and mild with temps in the 50s and lows overnight only dropping back to just above freezing. May not see any snowmaking the next two nights. However, some models are forecasting snow and some are pushing snow mix from Friday through the first of next week.
Brad Says COLD and SNOW for the Weekend!
Meteorologist Brad Panovich expects both cold and snow will return for this huge President’s Day weekend and stick around through next week. An arctic front is on the move from and it has some seriously cold air behind it. It appears that the front will cross the Southeast late Friday or early Saturday with limited moisture. What DOES fall will be snow at the higher elevations and maybe a mix below. He said that the front should slide far enough South that the entire region will be in a cold air mass by Saturday.
Brad says, “This is where things get very interesting. The front should stall just to the South of the southern
He’s expecting snow to be falling on Saturday, but especially Sunday and Monday as two of these waves cross the region with all snow for the mountains. The heavier amount will be farther South, so Cataloochee may get more than the
He expects the long term forecast to continue to keep the same pattern with a few more chances of snow during the next week. Brad sums things up by saying, “This outstanding February will continue into next weekend as well! Stay tuned for updates and get out and enjoy the great conditions!”
So look for a mild Wednesday and Thursday…and colder Friday. Saturday will be VERY cold and snowy!
Until Next Time!
Check out www.HighCountryWeather.com for more information and also be sure to check out www.SkiSoutheast.com for more weather information about ski resorts to the north!
Be sure to email photos, snow reports and comments to: [email protected]