Last Updated on December 5, 2012 4:55 pm
According to the weather station at the top of Grandfather Mountain, rainfall for the year to date is above normal at the mountain, but just barely. Rain for the year-to-date is 53.54 inches, which is .88 inches (or 2 percent) above the norm for this time of the year.
The rainfall total of 1.47 inches of rain was 2.84 inches, or 66 percent, below the 57-year average rainfall total for November of 4.31 inches. The top of the Mountain was closed, and therefore no weather reports were made, November 1 because of ice and on Thanksgiving Day.
Grandfather Mountain measures precipitation at multiple locations on the Mountain. An automatic weighing precipitation gauge on the corner of the Top Shop parking lot recorded 1.45 inches of liquid precipitation this month. Entrance Gate employees recorded 1.12 inches of rain for the month and the naturalist staff recorded 1.08 inches at the weather equipment near the Fudge Shop.
No snow was measured at the top of Grandfather in November. Entrance Gate employees recorded .5 inches of snow for the month and the naturalist staff recorded .6 inches at the weather equipment near the Fudge Shop.
Since October 1, Top Shop employees have measured zero inches of snow; 11.8 inches have been recorded near the Fudge Shop; and 13.2 inches have been measured at the Entrance Gate.
The automatic weather station at the top of Grandfather Mountain recorded the average high temperature for the month as 43.9 degrees and the average low temperature as 29.1 degrees. These numbers read very close to the State Climate Office data from Mt. Mitchell State Park. The average high temperature at Mt. Mitchell was 42.7 degrees and the average low temperature was 29.2 degrees.
Wind gusts of 60 mph and more were recorded five days during November. The highest three-second gust during the month was 80.4 mph recorded November 2.
For more information on Grandfather Mountain's weather data or to access current conditions please visit www.grandfather.com.
