Chance for snow in Buncombe County, Asheville this weekend

Ryan Oehrli, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read
Snowfall accumulated on the mountaintops the week of Jan. 17 as seen in this photo captured Jan. 19 along Woods Ammons Road in Mars Hill. Some light snow is forecast for the weekend.
Snowfall accumulated on the mountaintops the week of Jan. 17 as seen in this photo captured Jan. 19 along Woods Ammons Road in Mars Hill. Some light snow is forecast for the weekend.

ASHEVILLE - The National Weather Service says there's a chance for snow in the area this weekend, coming off a low pressure system hitting the southeastern part of the country — at least for Western North Carolina's higher elevations.

"It looks like it'll actually start coming in late Friday (Feb. 10) as rain," said meteorologist Christiaan Patterson. "As the system moves in a little bit more this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, we could see some ... snowfall in higher amounts at higher elevations."

"Especially along the I-40 corridor, so that would definitely be affecting the Buncombe County/Asheville area," she said. "At this point we don't have total accumulations."

She said she expects snowfall in the Asheville area to be less than an inch, but in the higher elevations, including Mount Mitchell ― the highest point in the Eastern United States, which sits at 6,684 feet elevation in Yancey County ― could receive about 4 inches of snow.

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In general, elevations above 3,500 feet will be subject to higher snowfall, she said. Asheville sits in a valley of about 2,200 feet altitude.

Patterson stressed that expectations could change later in the week. The National Weather Service's current challenge in predicting snowfall is warmer surface temperatures. If they don't drop below freezing, there might not be snow at all, she said.

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"That is right now our forecast challenge," she said.

Last year, Asheville saw just over 10 inches of snow, with most falling in January. No notable amount of snow has hit the area yet in 2023, Patterson said.

Asheville can expect the following highs and lows over the next few days:

  • Feb. 9: Likely showers with breeze and a high of 61degrees during the day. At night there's a chance for more showers and a patchy fog. The low will be 42.

  • Feb. 10: A high of 58 with a chance of rain during the day, then a low of 38 with more chance of rain.

  • Feb. 11: Rain is likely with a high of 48. In the evening, showers are likely with a low of 33.

  • Feb. 12: There is a chance that showers will carry over in the next day, with a high of 45, and then it's expected to be partly cloudy that night with a low of 28.

Ryan Oehrli covers public safety, breaking news, courts and other beats for the Citizen Times. Comments? Questions? Tips? Send them to coehrli@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Chance for snow in Buncombe County, Asheville this weekend