First Time to Grandfather Mtn. Tomorrow!!! (Charlotte, Asheville: motel, home, live)

[Touge07]

So I'll leave from Charlotte Sunday morning and I'm just trying to get some tips on what's a must do while I'm up there. I'm 22 years old and will be going with friends my age as well, thanks!

[QuilterChick]

Originally Posted by Touge07

So I'll leave from Charlotte Sunday morning and I'm just trying to get some tips on what's a must do while I'm up there. I'm 22 years old and will be going with friends my age as well, thanks!

First of all, make sure it's open. It had been closed earlier this week due to snow up there.

[fmors]

Originally Posted by QuilterChick

First of all, make sure it's open. It had been closed earlier this week due to snow up there.

Good point, as it is suppose to start raining Saturday night and turn over to snow sometime on Sunday. They are predicting accumulation for Asheville and much more accumulation to the north. Grandfather mountain will most lilkely be closed.

[hymnsinger]

Driving Sunday night (12/12/10) in the Boone area will be treacherous, possibly deadly. I'm not overstating this! If we are under a Winter Storm WARNING, DO NOT drive up here!! At the least it will be a boring stay in the motel room, at worst you will be involved in a wreck. By Tuesday the roads should be passable.

If you're in a 4x4 you MIGHT be able to make it up to the ski areas. If you wait until Tuesday you will have a great trip and will enjoy your stay. If you do come up anyway, drive slow in the snow, have an emergency kit (water/snacks/blankets) in the car in case you end up in a ditch, and make sure your phones are charged. *47 is the # for the highway patrol.

Do not be fooled. It will rain until you hit about 3000' feet normally about 20 minutes outside of Boone. That 20 minutes will take you at least an hour or more and will be the most dangerous part of your trip. You will not be able to see more than 2 car lengths ahead. Keep a very close eye on the weather, 7-Day Forecast for Latitude 36.2°N and Longitude 81.66°W right now forecasters are forecasting winds Sunday night in the 60 mph range. If you hit a patch of ice, you WILL be off the road.

PLEASE wait until Tuesday!! The ski slopes will still be here, I promise. Grandfather Mountain will be closed probably until at least Thursday. Unless you want to experience blizzard conditions firsthand, be smart and wait.

I'm a pastor, a pilot, and a weather geek! You can trust me!!

Seriously, Tracey

[hymnsinger]

Did I say come Tuesday??
The Forecast:

Long term /tuesday through thursday/...
The upper level trough will be along the east coast tuesday.
Northwest flow will continue to bring mountain snow showers with
accumulating snow on western slopes and higher elevations early
next week. It will also be very cold and blustery for the entire
area with afternoon temperatures below freezing and the wind
howling at 15-30 mph with gusts across the mountains up to 50 mph.

Have fun!

[Touge07]

Omg now I'm scared haha. Thanks for letting me know, i checked the weather but didn't see any snow until Monday. If i don't go this Sunday I'll have to wait until next Sunday since i have to work during the week.

I forgot to mention I'm leaving Charlotte at 3am Sunday morning will head home in the afternoon, so i should be able to avoid the rain!

[hymnsinger]

Sorry about the caps, NWS forecasters tend to shout everything, lol. this is just a portion of the discussion and is in the public domain . . .

Read this, do what you're going to do, and don't say I didn't warn you! I hope your vehicle has full collision coverage.

CONDITIONS CHANGE DRAMATICALLY BY SATURDAY NIGHT...AND CONTINUE TO BE EVENTFUL INTO MONDAY NIGHT. WHILE PRECIPITATION WILL BE ON THE INCREASE IN ASSOCIATION WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT IN ADVANCE OF THE MAIN TROUGH AXIS...SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN SOME LOCATIONS WILL REMAIN AROUND OR BELOW FREEZING. THE WARM NOSE ALOFT WILL BE MILD ENOUGH FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR AREAS OF SLEET MIXED WITH EITHER RAIN OR SNOW ACROSS SOME REGIONS WEST OF THE CREST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. OTHER LOCATIONS WILL SEE SNOW OR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE...MOST AREAS WILL SEE JUST RAIN.

BY SUNDAY MORNING...THE SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL BE PASSING THROUGH THE REGION. UNTIL IT DOES...THE WARM NOSE WILL BE JUST IN ADVANCE OF IT...AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SLEET MIXED WITH RAIN OR SNOW WILL SHIFT A BIT FARTHER EAST INTO THE FORECAST AREA INCLUDING PARTS OF THE JAMES AND ROANOKE RIVER VALLEYS...WHILE IN THE MOUNTAINS A TRANSITION TO SNOW WILL TAKE PLACE AS TEMPERATURES ALOFT ALL WILL QUICKLY DROP BELOW 0 C WHILE REMAINING MOIST THROUGH THE COLUMN. BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON...EITHER A RAIN OR SNOW FORECAST IS ON TAP WITH THE SURFACE AND NEAR SURFACE TEMPERATURES BEING THE DECIDING FACTOR. WE ARE LOOKING FOR PRIMARILY SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH RAIN SHOWERS EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE.

BY SUNDAY NIGHT...AND STRONG NORTHWEST FLOW...UPSLOPE SNOW MACHINE IS EXPECTED TO BE IN PLACE AND BRING NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS TO THE PREFERRED UPSLOPE REGIONS OF SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA SOUTH INTO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. IT WILL ALSO BE THE TIME WHERE WE WILL BE CLOSELY MONITORING THE WINDS. MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT OF RAMPING UP 850 MB WINDS INTO THE 45 TO 65 KT RANGE DEPENDING UPON THE MODEL...AND CONTINUING SIMILAR SPEEDS THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL ADD THE FACTOR OF AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW THROUGHOUT THE MOUNTAINS BOTH CONCURRENT TO WHERE SNOW IS FALLING...AND THEN AFTER SNOWFALL CONCLUDES AND WINDS LIFT AND BLOW SURFACE BASED SNOWS.

AS WE GET CLOSER TO THESE TIME PERIODS...MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FOR ANY WATCHES...WARNINGS OR ADVISORIES THAT MAY BE
POSTED BY THIS OFFICE FOR SNOW...WIND...AND WIND CHILLS OR A
COMBINATION OF ANY OF THESE HAZARDS.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Touge07

Omg now I'm scared haha. Thanks for letting me know, i checked the weather but didn't see any snow until Monday. If i don't go this Sunday I'll have to wait until next Sunday since i have to work during the week.

I forgot to mention I'm leaving Charlotte at 3am Sunday morning will head home in the afternoon, so i should be able to avoid the rain!

You're leaving Charlotte at 3 in the morning?? Where do you expect to go once you get up there? Even if Grandfather Mountain is able to open that day if won't be open at 6 a.m., lol.

Look, this is just not the weekend for this kind of trip. Hymnsinger is giving you great advice - and she lives there - so listen to her and reschedule.

[Touge07]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

You're leaving Charlotte at 3 in the morning?? Where do you expect to go once you get up there? Even if Grandfather Mountain is able to open that day if won't be open at 6 a.m., lol.

Look, this is just not the weekend for this kind of trip. Hymnsinger is giving you great advice - and she lives there - so listen to her and reschedule.

Well maybe around 4am. Im 2 hours away and im going to take my time and stop at places. Thanks a lot for the advice guys, if it looks pretty bad when i get there i will just turn around, if thats not possible then ill just get a cabin and sleep over. I just want to get out of Charlotte for a day and see something i've never seen, i promise i'll be careful haha. And yes, i do have full coverage

[QuilterChick]

What is your name, we'll watch the news. haha