Heavy Snow — Unicoi, Tennessee

2018-12-21 · Unicoi, Tennessee

Event narrative

Four inches of snow was reported at Iron Mountain.

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure system shifted northeast out of the Lower Mississippi Valley with a track crossing the extreme southern end of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in Southeast Tennessee and Southwest North Carolina. The strong southerly flow with this system produced mainly rainfall across the region, but as the low pressure center moved east into the Western Carolinas, orographic snowfall developed as temperatures dropped below freezing in the cold northwesterly flow behind the departing storm system.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 793001. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.