Last Updated on December 10, 2011 5:02 pm
(From Grandfather Mountain Newsroom)
A total of 5.37 inches of rain was recorded in November at the weather data reporting station located at the top of Grandfather Mountain. This amount is 1.01 inches (23 percent) above the 56-year average rainfall total for the month of 4.36 inches. Rain for the year-to-date totals 54.73 inches, which is 4.21 inches (seven percent) below the 56-year norm of 58.94 inches.
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 6.05 inches of liquid precipitation (rain and the melted equivalent of snow) this month, a manual gauge at the Entrance Gate recorded 7.37 inches and a manual gauge at the Fudge Shop recorded 8.88 inches.
Snow flurries November 18 and 30 brought 2.9 inches of snow to the top of Grandfather Mountain. Entrance Gate employees recorded 2.0 inches of snow for the month as did the staff that records precipitation at the equipment near the Fudge Shop.
Over the past four years, Grandfather, in partnership with Appalachian State University, has upgraded technology and added two automatic weather stations on the Mile High Swinging Bridge. With the August 2011 summary, Grandfather Mountain began reporting the data collected by the automatic weather station located on the Swinging Bridge.
The average high temperature for November was 49.5 degrees and the average low temperature was 33.5 degrees. These numbers read just a bit higher than the State Climate Office data from Mt. Mitchell State Park. The average high temperature at Mt. Mitchell was 47.7 degrees and the average low temperature was 33.1 degrees.
Wind gusts over 60 mph were recorded eight times. The highest three-second gust during the month was 83 mph recorded November 12.
For more information on Grandfather Mountain's weather data or to access current conditions please visit www.grandfather.com.