NC weather at beginning of Nov.?
Looking to knock out a few more miles NOBO starting at Deep Gap the first week of November. What sort of weather should I prep for? Any special precautions?
It's pretty variable. I would plan for lows around 30F and highs anywhere from 45 to 70. It's a great time of year to be on the trail.
I usually have some blaze orange in November.
It can range anywhere from the most beautiful time of the year to hike to dangerous mysery including high winds, fridig temps, and snow or cold rain. The long-range forecast in the SE is for colder than normal temps, but I'm not sure how it will be that far ahead. If I was heading there this time of year, I wouldn't make a final decision until three or four days out. I've hiked south from Fontanta Dam in early November back around 1998. It was miled (highs in the 40s) and wet (drizzle, not heavy rain). That was fine for hiking, though the abundant leaf-fall made things slick.
Using climate data from GSMNP:
Low elevations - highs in the 60s, lows in the mid 30s.
High elevations - highs in the mid 40s, lows just below freezing.
Typical weather is easily +/- 10º from these averages... extreme weather events can make it +/- 20º.
Not a particularly wet time of year, but you're getting beyond the driest time of September & October.
For November I'll be taking my "Pre Winter Load"---meaning not my "January Load".
Which translates to my usual summer boots, no microspikes, no full leather gtx boots, no overkill down parka, no down mittens.
For November it'll be my merino 260wt leggings, the usual two pairs of smartwool socks (one for sleeping), two pairs of fleece gloves, my MLD eVent mitt shells, one package of Hot Hands just in case, a couple 3-hour candles for in-tent hand warming (we often get a Halloween sleet or snowstorms in the mountains)---and my usual turtle fur watch hat (tuque) along with my torso layers:
Silk long sleeve baselayer---North Face Reaxion poly T-shirt, smartwool merino top---and two sandwiched patagonia capilene tops---the outer being their thermal hoody---the hood works in tandem with my tuque.
My "extreme" outer is my WM Flight down jacket just in case---which is used as my pillow inside a homemade silk pillowcase---(made from an old baselayer silk shirt).
That's about it for Pre Winter. In January I go with the big guns---and sometimes even bring my Voile snow shovel so I can dig in and prepare a tentsite.
There hasn’t been any noticeable dry period this year. The Wautauga River gauge between Grandfather Mountain and Boone was at 12’ recently. Flood stage is 6’.
We’re packing for a trip to the North Carolina High Country next week through Halloween. Rain gear, Windstopper fleece and down jackets are going in the suitcase first.
Snow at higher elevations around Halloween is not uncommon.
Looking forward to seeing the foliage. Snow will be a bonus.
Have fun!
Wayne
Oh yeah, Venchka reminds me of two things I forgot---My beautiful OR Foray rain pants and my superb Arcteryx Alpha SV rain jacket. The jacket most especially is vital for winter backpacking---it becomes a torso warmth layer when on the move (with minimal layers underneath)---and sometimes in camp if you forget to bring a down jacket.
THE HALLOWEEN PHENOM
The mountains of NC often get hit with snow at the end of October for some reason. I was out in 2014 when we got hit with a cold snap---check out the pics---
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I was camping on Slickrock Creek when the storm pulled in. The biggest problem I had was fighting my way thru snow-loaded collapsed rhododendron on the way up to Hangover Mt.
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The first snow of the season is always tough because you're carrying a summer bloodstream and now it's winter.
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When I left the creek and climbed 3,000 feet to Hangover Mt I ran into these backpackers pulling the same route---and wearing the standard Southeast winter outfit---shorts with torso warmth tops.
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And when you break a sweat in cold weather you have to go back to your summer layers---t-shirt and shorts.
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Welcome to a late October snowstorm at 5,000 feet.
I guess it's just more evidence that weather can be fickle that time of year.Originally Posted by Tipi Walter
For the last decade, it's been typical for me to do something like a pair of weekend hikes in October (excluding Halloween if it fell on a weekend), and another for Veteran's Day weekend. Never ran into any snow.
Dang it, my Florida blood might be too thin for this. I don't want to wait until spring to head out again but I might have to.
Guess I will just watch the forecast and decide at the last minute...
Aw, just throw another pair of socks and a jacket in the pack. You'll be alright. It's great to be able to hike without being drenched in sweat. But yes, do check the forecast before you go.
It's fun to give that kind of advice ("...just throw another pair of socks...in the pack. You'll be alright....."), and maybe 80% of the time it'll work out just like that. But we shouldn't poo-poo the cold season in our high mountains, especially when newcomers or folks from warmer climates are reading. It can be brutal on Standing Indian in late October (Superstorm Sandy a few years ago). On October 1 in the Smokies back around 2013, the wind was blowing at 40 miles and hour, temps were in the mid 30s, and ice rime was forming on ever solid object (branches) in a chilling fog. While Tipi and other experienced hikers are ready to go at a moment's notice, a novice from Miami might get into real trouble following general advice that might prove woefully inaccurate.
Because of temperatures or the talk of snow.
Understand that snow is rare.
For any given weekend thru the winter, GSMNP (and the remainder of NC I hazard a guess) likely does NOT have snow on the ground.
Even at the highest elevations, the average day-time high is above freezing. So even when it does snow, it usually doesn't stick around for long.
As I stated above, I frequently take a camping trip to GSMNP around Veteran's Day. I usually stay at the lower elevations and find the weather to usually be dry with temperatures in the 60s during the day and 40s over night.
I would suggest you PLAN for weather along those lines and simply watch the 5 and 10 day forecasts with the attitude that you'll bail if the forecast looks unseasonably cold (below freezing) or wet (snow/rain).
Some of my favorite hikes in GSMNP have been over Veteran's Day weekend in relatively remove sections of the park... walking on a carpet of leaves.
You're correct. As we saw very recently, it's possible for an unprepared person to succumb to hypothermia well before November.
My post was intended to encourage him. Unless the forecast was poor, speaking for myself, I wouldn't hesitate to go.
I did HS to Erwin last year started day after thx giving....very comfortable weather around 65-30 degrees....
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