Power Outage in Spruce Pine, NC

A tree and power lines blown down.

A tree and power lines blown down.

Landslide caused unspecified damage to a structure and took down some power lines.

High winds developed across portions of the northern mountains during the evening, blowing a few large tree limbs into power lines, which resulted in some outages.

Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. At least six houses had trees fall on them, and 12,000 homes were without power for a short time.

For the second time in 10 days, a freezing rain event developed across portions of the mountains and foothills of North Carolina. Precipitation developed during the overnight, as a wave of low pressure moved along the Gulf Coast. Precipitation began as rain and snow, but transitioned to freezing rain across all but the highest elevations (where more of a wintry mix was reported), as a wedge of cold air locked in near the Blue Ridge. As freezing rain continued through daybreak, damaging accumulations of ice, generally between one quarter and ine half inch were reported across the area. Quite a few trees and power lines, along with numerous power outages were reported across the area.

Strong northwest winds developed during the evening of the 14th across the northern mountains and foothills in the wake of an arctic cold front. Quite a few trees and power lines were reported down in addition to some minor structural damage.

Strong northwest winds developed across the northern mountains late on the 29th, with the strongest winds affecting locations along and near the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge. The winds gusted to over 60 mph at times, with gusts in excess of 80 mph likely occurring across the higher elevations. Numerous trees were blown down in these areas. Sporadic minor damage was reported to roofs across the area and a downed power lines resulted in scattered power outages. A few trees fell on homes as well. The strong winds continued through much of the 30th before tapering off by mid-evening. Snow showers also developed within the northwest flow and produced 1-2 inches of accumulation during the overnight hours.

Rain changed to snow across the northern mountains during the early afternoon hours. The snow became heavy at times and quickly accumulated to 1-4 inches by late afternoon. Snow, heavy at times, continued into the evening hours across. By the time the snow tapered off, accumulations of 4-8 inches were common across the area. However, some of the higher peaks received over a foot of snow. The heavy wet snow, combined with gusty winds, caused some trees to fall and isolated power outages.

Some trees and power lines were blown down.

A burst of heavy sleet and freezing rain culminated a day of mostly light snowfall. The rapid accumulation of ice brought down power lines, causing outages to 875 customers in the Spruce Pine area.

High winds following a frontal passage downed trees and powerlines in part of the northern mountains. In Bakersville, a door was blown off a house.