Archived Outdoors

Snow falls in the mountains

A dusting of snow Sunday, Oct. 15, marked the first flakes of the season. LeConte Lodge photo A dusting of snow Sunday, Oct. 15, marked the first flakes of the season. LeConte Lodge photo

The first snow of the season has fallen in the Southern Appalachians.

 

LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park reported a dinnertime dusting Sunday, Oct. 15. Overnight, snow and ice combined for a solid inch on the ground, making walking surfaces crunchy and then slick in places where multiple footsteps had already trodden.

As of Monday morning, the temperature was 26 degrees with light winds. The lodge sits at 6,360 feet above sea level, just below the 6,593-foot summit of Mount Le Conte, the park’s third-highest peak. Local Yokel Weather reported 2 inches of snow at the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Monday morning, an elevation of 5,830 feet.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, the snow was 4 inches deep at Mount Le Conte, the National Weather Service reported.

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.