MOUNTAIN WEATHER UNPREDICTABLE

By Marshall McClung
Graham Star Correspondent

One statement that you can make about our mountain weather and be reasonably sure of being correct is to say that it will be unpredictable. If you go any farther than that, you will be stretching your luck.

Our recent spell of cool weather shouldn’t have caught us by surprise.  It followed on the heels of some days that were hot enough to convince folks that warm weather was here to stay. Many planted gardens during those warm days and now have tender plants up. The scattered frost from the past few mornings has them concerned.

This most recent cold spell is what the “old folks” called “Blackberry Winter”, a spell of cold weather that coincides with the blooming of our native blackberry briers.  Prior to that we had “Dogwood Winter”, a cool spell occurring when the dogwood trees are blooming.   The old folks also spoke of the “Easter Squall” a period of unsettled weather that seems to come most years right about Easter.   “Catbird Winter” is a short bout of cool weather that seems to arrive with the return of the catbirds in the spring.  Then there is “Laurel Winter” that comes with the blooming of our native mountain laurel.  You will hear some locals call mountain laurel ivy, and call rhododendron laurel.  Probably lesser known is “snowball winter” a spell of chilly weather when the snowball bush blooms.   Snowball bushes are a member of the honeysuckle family and are also called viburnum.

As you can see, cold spells in the spring are not an uncommon occurrence in our mountains.   A look farther in the weather history of our mountains reveals some interesting facts.  I recall some of the men who used to work in the mountains on logging jobs talk about having to leave the woods on upper Santeetlah due to heavy snow the first week of June.   I recall my wife’s grandmother; Mary Jane Wiggins speak of having to wear a coat while hoeing corn due to the unseasonably cold weather.  This may have been the time some folks referred to as “The year with no summer.”

Folks in the Addie community of Jackson County recorded a snow on May 27, 1895 that was up to their knees.   Cattle had already been taken to high mountain meadows, and several of them froze to death.  The cold weather accompanying the snow destroyed gardens killed the fruit crops, even the wild blackberries.

Balsam, on the Jackson-Haywood county line recorded an all day snow on June 10, 1910 that melted as fast as it fell.   The Great Smoky Mountains had a blizzard on April 10, 1900.  In less than twenty minutes, everything was covered by the heavy snow which was followed by a hard freeze.  Several cattle froze to death on Siler’s Bald.  They had huddled together for warmth, and their bodies were frozen to each other when they were found.

On June 5, 1858, a hard freeze hit the Boone and Blowing Rock area.  Corn standing knee-high was killed, along with all fruits and vegetables, and the wild mast such as the oaks, beeches, and hickories.  Blowing Rock also recorded a frost on the night of July 26, 1876.  The higher elevations of Haywood County received a snow on June 10, 1913.

So you see, our various ‘winters’ when it is supposed to be spring are nothing unusual.   But don’t worry, it will change soon.