Some of you may wonder what the weather is like here in the foothills. Since I've only been here for two months, I can't speak of the whole year, but I'm getting some idea of what summer is like.
Let me preface this by saying that every year is different - in 2007 and 2008 it didn't rain at all, and Western North Carolina (WNC) along with the Southeast had a serious drought. This year is more typical.
Since Hendersonville is about 2200 feet above sea level, the temperature averages about eight degrees below what it would be at, say, Myrtle Beach, S. C. Therefore it rarely gets to be above 90 degrees - the typical high is 85 degrees.
My initial impression that it isn't humid wasn't correct - but it isn't humid all the time. More like half the time. July was drier, August is pretty humid.
Some mornings it is foggy and/or cloudy, but it always burns off, and the sun comes out. In fact, I can only remember one rainy morning in two months. As the day progresses, puffy clouds build in, and showers and thunderstorms develop. Whether or not it rains is a hit-or-miss proposition, but it seems safe to say that it rains somewhere in WNC every afternoon or early evening. Usually those are thunderstorms, though not severe, and no tornadoes - it has something to do with the mountains. You can see these showers develop on radar in the pm, and move to the northwest as their coverage increases. After sunset they die down, and it rarely rains after midnight, like it does in Iowa.
Lately we have had a lot of rain, and things are soggy right now. Last night's storm knocked out all the pumps at the filling station at the corner - either through lightning or flooding. Flash flooding is a threat on some roads, as nearby creeks can rise rapidly in the typically heavy downpours. It doesn't increase my fondness of those mountain roads!
One thing everyone keeps an eye on this time of year is the forecast of hurricanes. As soon as a potential hurricane forms off the coast of Africa, the local station keeps us informed, because it could bring much rain and high winds to our area. So far Ana fizzelled, Claudette dissipated, and Bill veered to the north, and so I haven't had any direct experience with hurricanes. I did hear that a few years ago they had two of them back to back with a lot of rain, flooding and tree damage, as the trees toppled in the saturated soil.
But right now the sun is shining, as usual, though there is a chance of rain later on...
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The different weather is interesting. I am in Cincinnati, so like in Iowa tornadoes can be a problem, but not as bad as in Iowa.
ReplyDeleteThis past September Hurricane Ike sent some hurricane force winds to the tri-state Cinci. area with no rain. It did major damage and we were out of power for 3 days and others for 7 days ! The worst part was that the grocery stores had to throw out all their cold and frozen foods ! And everyone had to throw out all their food in our refridgerators too.
It was a total surprise. So, we here in Cinci have to be concerned about tornadoes and hurricanes.
When I hear reports about hurricane forming I always pray they will go out to sea or dissipate.
Do you and your husband have supplies for a prolonged outage ? Might want to get some together.
Be blessed in your new home and enjoy getting to know it.
From what I remember of the Carolinas, it does get a bit muggy in the summer and the nights are comfortable. You might get an occasional snow in the winter but it is rare.I do recall one back in the late 70's and I was in south Florida at the time. Sadly the wife wasn't and the light dusting paralized the city for 2 days.
ReplyDeleteHurricanes aren't too much of a threat there and it is rare for one to come ashore. However in Florida it is another story. Not smart to stay on the coast line when one is comming in unless you like to surf and have a death wish. We were in Camille in 69 and Ivan in 04. The rest were rather small and not as damaging.Always good to have a back up generator just in case it takes awhile to get power back on.