In western NC like say Cruso. . it can get down below 0°F. The last two winters it has gotten that low temperature wise out there. Here in eastern Va it has gotten down to low single digits and below 0°F in January 2014. -2°F where I'm at and -7°F not all to far away. . Of course it's not -20°F to -40°F like some people on have experienced. Again, in western NC it can and does get surprisingly cold at times in the winter. Remember that in Haywood county there are 14 mountains with an elevation greater than 6,000 feet and that the average elevation there is 3600 feet. When I look at temperature maps in the computer models the temperature is at 850 millibars. Which is about 5,000 ft above sea level. Guess what the temp at 850 MB is going to be here in southeast Va Monday evening?? -21°C. Which is less than -4°F. Now is it going to be -4°F at the surface? No.. We will likely be in the mid teens for temps. In western NC where elevation is much higher and above 5,000 ft in numerous places it could well be down around 0°F or colder. Even at 3400 ft elevation it will be colder than say 500 ft. There are certainly times where its colder in lower elevations than higher ones. In Vermont last winter in the valleys it was less than 32°F and in the upper 20s in many places. While higher elevations above 2,000 it was in the 40s and even mid 50s ! Huge ice storm with up to an 1 inch of ice in the Champlain valley. However, in general its colder at higher elevations.
Now it's certainly not like Saskatoon, International Falls , Oshkosh, Stowe and the like. But low single numbers below 5°F and below 0 do happen out there. Ohh and I've been to Cold mountain near Cruso NC. It was summer time though. At about 3500 ft of elevation on the side of the mountain. Very pretty area indeed.
