ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Asheville and the surrounding mountains woke up to the coldest air of the season Sunday, with a freeze warning from the National Weather Service in place between 1 and 9 a.m. across Buncombe County and much of the high country.
Besides Buncombe, the warning area takes in Madison and Haywood next door, Yancey, Mitchell and Avery to the north, Macon, Graham and Swain farther west, and portions of Jackson County. Lows in those areas were forecast to dip into the upper 20s and lower 30s, which is cold enough to harm tender plants and late crops.
Counties a little farther south and east are under a frost advisory for the same hours instead. That list includes Henderson and Transylvania counties, the McDowell and Burke areas and the mountain sections of Rutherford and Polk counties, and it crosses into the Upstate of South Carolina, where the high ground of Greenville, Pickens and Oconee counties is covered too.
The chill arrived a day after the high peaks got a taste of winter. The Blue Ridge Parkway saw its first snow of the season Saturday on stretches higher than 5,000 feet, and Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi at 6,684 feet, read 29 degrees early Saturday, and the wind made it feel like 19.
In the city itself, the forecast called for a low near 33 with frost forming after 3 a.m. and a sunny Sunday afternoon topping out near 63 degrees.
Homeowners are being told to cover or bring in sensitive plants, unhook garden hoses, wrap exposed outdoor pipes and give pets a warm spot. Another frost or freeze could follow Sunday night before readings climb back toward normal by midweek.
Filed under: Asheville NC Weather News
