Photo by Jessica Webb/SMT A North Carolina Department of Transportation Vehicle waits at a light in town Monday morning, on its way to help with the snow cleanup and re
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Saturday night brought rain, sleet and snow to the mountains and had many waking up Sunday morning to 6-8 inches of snow, with even more at higher altitudes. Duke Power reported 1,015 outages on midday Sunday for Swain County, and crews worked around the clock to restore power to Swain, but some were still out going into Monday.
Another round of snow pelted the area Sunday, although the first round was mostly melted by then at mid-lower elevations, but the low temperatures resulted in black ice and a frozen layer underneath the snow come Monday morning.
The National Weather Service totaled snowfall accumulations in the Bryson City area as 2.1 inches on Sunday, Jan. 16 and an additional 4.6 inches fell Monday, Jan. 17 bringing the total to 6.7 inches. Of course, higher elevation areas like Alarka, Almond and Whittier saw more. On the NWS Twitter page, Banner Elk had the highest recorded snowfall in North Carolina totaling 20 inches.
Swain County Schools were already out celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, so kids got to stay home and enjoy a snow day. Although this snow wasn’t the best to play in with temperatures Monday midday around 23 degrees and powdery snow not well suited to make snowmen. Still Facebook saw many photos of residents bundled up enjoying the winter weather. The district also cancelled classes for Tuesday, as did surrounding schools like Graham and Jackson Counties. Similarly, Southwestern Community College canceled classes for both days.
Around 3 p.m. Monday, there were 343 customers still without power in Swain County, based on Duke’s outage map, with an estimated restoration time of Tuesday, Jan.18 by 6 p.m.
A statement released by NC Department of Transportation said that more than 330 trucks equipped with plows and salt, around 55 motor graders and additional contractor equipment were operating 24 hours a day over the weekend and into the week across 25 NC counties. Crews distributed more than 12,700 tons of salt during the storm.
Swain County Emergency Management Director, David Breedlove said that responders were prepared for more snow but were glad that we got less than originally expected.
“We received less than was predicted. We were prepared for 12 inches of snow, and we didn’t have many calls,” Breedlove said. “Since it was over the weekend, I think most people stayed home and didn’t try to travel on the icy roads.”
Emergency services did have shelters in place as around 1,500 customers were without power in the county at one point, but Breedlove said that power was restored quickly so they didn’t have any reports of people freezing that needed to be brought in. He said that it is very seldom to have to use the shelters, but they are there with staff on standby just in case.
It seems winter is finally upon us, as New Year’s Day was nearing the 70s, but this week looks to remain in the low teens for a low and a 40-degree high with a possibility of more frigid weather this weekend.