Sections of Blue Ridge Parkway around Asheville already closed ahead of wintry weather

Karen Chávez, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read

Planning to travel the Blue Ridge Parkway this evening? Might want to rethink those plans.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is now closed south of Asheville, starting at MP 400 at the U.S. Forest Service Road 5000 (Bent Creek Access Road), to the southern end at Milepost 469 at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in anticipation of snowfall and icy road conditions tonight.

As wintry weather moves into the Western North Carolina mountains, the Asheville "commuter zone" on the parkway, from MP 400 to MP 375 at Ox Creek Road, is currently open. But the parkway is closed from Ox Creek all the way north to MP 344 at N.C. 80.

Mount Mitchell State Park, which only has vehicle access from the parkway at MP 355, closed at 3 p.m. Nov. 3 and will remain closed until further notice, according to the park's website.

A gate blocks the Blue Ridge Parkway on Sept. 16, 2018. The entire parkway was closed ahead of the area being hit by the effects of Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression.
A gate blocks the Blue Ridge Parkway on Sept. 16, 2018. The entire parkway was closed ahead of the area being hit by the effects of Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression.

The current temperature atop the mountain is 29 degrees, according to the weather station at the summit, provided by the N.C. High Peaks Trail Association.

"Road Closed" signs in the Asheville area when the weather might be cold, but not snowy is because the parkway rises rather quickly in elevation north and south of the city, which sits at an altitude of about 2,200 feet, parkway spokeswoman Leesa Brandon has said.

The Craggy Gardens area north of Asheville sits more than 5,000 feet high, and Mount Mitchell in Yancey County, is nearly 7,000 feet high (6,684 feet to be exact), making it the highest peak East of the Mississippi.

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Views along the Blue Ridge Parkway October 11, 2021.
Views along the Blue Ridge Parkway October 11, 2021.

Weather conditions can be quite different, and roads, bridges and tunnels can ice over quickly, making driving dangerous.

According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for the Asheville area is a 50% chance of rain, mainly after 7 p.m. with patchy fog after 3 a.m. The overnight low is expected to be about 38 degrees.

New precipitation amounts of less than 1/10 inch is possible. There is a 30% chance of rain, mainly before noon, on Nov. 4, with a high near 48.

Karen Chávez is Content Coach/Investigations Editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email her at KChavez@CitizenTimes.com or follow on Twitter @KarenChavezACT

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Blue Ridge Parkway sections around Asheville closed for wintry weather