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Sylva’s first major snow in several years brings 6 inches to most parts of county
By Derek Hodges
Many parts of Jackson County saw their first significant snowstorm in several years this past weekend.
Snow blanketed the county as part of a weather system that spread the white stuff throughout the region and the Eastern seaboard.
In Jackson County, snowfall reports varied widely. Most of Sylva saw between 6-8 inches, while Webster received 5-7. Most areas in the northern part of the county received about 6 inches, though Balsam got 10. Cashiers had nearly a foot of snow, while some higher elevations in the county reported as much 17-19 inches. The most extreme snow depths in the region were in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where up to 32 inches were reported.
Duke Power spokesman Fred Alexander reported 243 power outages in Jackson County as of midday Saturday (Feb. 11), but that number was down to 73 by 5 p.m. Saturday. The largest outage in Duke’s Nantahala Area – which covers five counties and experienced a total of 1,069 power outages at the height of the storm – was in the Blanton Branch and Ochre Hill area, where falling trees broke three power poles, Alexander said. All customers had power by the end of the day on Sunday (Feb. 12), he said.
Despite the heavy snow, roads in most of Jackson County remained at least passable, though they were slick. N.C. Department of Transportation maintenance crews were out in force working to keep highways clear.
“The men worked real hard. We had 16 trucks working in Jackson County and we put down 400 tons of salt,” said DOT’s Edwin Austin, road maintenance supervisor.
Balsam and Soco were the hardest hit areas as far as transportation is concerned, Austin said.
Despite those efforts and warming temperatures, Austin said there were still icy spots on county roads as of Tuesday afternoon.
The icy roads led to schools being closed on Monday (Feb. 13), a few days after classes were cancelled Feb. 9 for a smaller winter-weather event. Students also received a break Tuesday (Feb. 14) and Wednesday (Feb. 15) as schools operated on a two-hour delay.
Much of Jackson County saw intermittent snow and sun on Sunday, while Monday and Tuesday brought partly to mostly sunny skies. Temperatures hovered around the freezing mark on Monday and sank into the teens Monday night and Tuesday morning. The mercury rebounded on Tuesday, reaching into the upper 40s throughout the county.
Though forecasts initially predicted the majority of snowfall to come Friday night and Saturday morning, a second round Saturday night and Sunday morning brought most of the accumulation.
While the first dose of icy weather was enough to make travel treacherous, it was the second batch of precipitation that really snarled traffic, said Sgt. Paul Campbell of the N.C. State Highway Patrol.
“We had multiple accidents due to the ice and snow, particularly on Saturday night and Sunday morning,” Campbell said.
Despite numerous accidents, there were no serious injuries, Campbell said. While the incidents were scattered throughout the county, most of the incidents occurred on U.S. 23/74 around Ochre Hill – with a large number of vehicles sliding off the road and into ditches, he said.
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