Early winter weather brings chilly blasts, snow
RALEIGH (AP) - After a day of bone-chilling winds in the east and a light coating of snow in the mountains, North Carolina can expect more of a winter preview for the rest of the week.
After a night with lows in the 20s, the National Weather Service said highs were expected to reach only into the mid-40s on Wednesday despite abundant sunshine. Meteorologist Lara Pagano said highs for most of North Carolina are typically in the low 60s at this time of year.
Highs will make it into the 50s on Thursday before another blast of cold air sends temperatures falling back into the 40s for weekend highs and lows in the 20s.
Snowfall on Tuesday morning canceled classes in six western counties and delayed the start of school in another county.
The frigid air is coming from central Canada and over the Great Lakes, said Robert Stonefield, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Blacksburg, Va.
"It has come in early this year," Stonefield said. "It kind of caught some people by surprise."
The Winston-Salem Journal reported that by the middle of the day Tuesday, winds blew snow sideways in Boone and Blowing Rock before flurries dissipated. Boone and Blowing Rock got an inch or two and some parts of eastern Watauga County just got flurries that didn't stick to the ground.
The low at Grandfather Mountain, where the average for November is 32, was 11 degrees on Tuesday.
Appalachian State University professor Ray Russell runs a weather Web site and said the temperatures in Boone were the lowest in 49 years.
The cold weather was a gift for ski resort operators, who were running snowmaking equipment and getting natural snow.
