Freezing wind chills recorded atop NC’s Mount Mitchell and winter is 2 months away

Fall is not yet 10 days old, but Mount Mitchell State Park in western North Carolina hit fast forward on Wednesday.

A low of 30 degrees was recorded on the mountain Wednesday, with a brittle windchill of 14.2 degrees around 4 a.m., according to data recorded by NCHighPeaks.org.

It was even colder Friday, with a temperature of 29 degrees at 6:30 a.m. and a windchill of 13.3 degrees. (The wind was blowing at 23 mph.)

The highest temperature on the mountain this week was just 58 degrees, NCHighPeaks.org says.

Mount Mitchell State Park, about 125 miles northwest of Charlotte, has been known as the windiest, coldest, wettest spot in North Carolina for decades.

The mountain’s 6,684-foot peak is “the highest point east of the Mississippi,” making it ground zero for East Coast weather extremes. It recorded a temperature of negative 34 degrees in January 1985, according to NOAA. And it is home to what is considered the state’s record 24-hour snowfall: A whopping 36 inches in 1993, according to WNCmagazine.com.

The 14-degree windchill comes as the state’s far western counties are forecast to see lows in the mid 30s, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, the central and eastern parts of the state will see lows in the 50s and upper 40s at night for the next few weeks, according to AccuWeather.com.

Forecasters aren’t calling for lows in the 30s in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas until the first week of November, AccuWeather.com reports.

This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 3:08 PM.