FORECAST: Cold locked in as temperatures plunge into evening hours

WEDNESDAY: A bitter chill settled in across the region Wednesday morning, with temperatures falling to the coldest readings of the season for many neighborhoods.

The wintry conditions led school district officials in Ashe and Watauga counties to close Wednesday, while Avery County schools operated on a two-hour delay.

Winds around Charlotte remained breezy, which took off 5-10 degrees on the wind chill. It was even worse in the mountains, where very strong winds continued to gust, leading to wind chill values below zero in the high country.

Despite Wednesday's sunshine, temperatures only warmed to the mid-40s during the afternoon.

Lows will be in the upper 20s overnight into Thursday.

The cold is expected to remain for the next two days, but a slow warmup is on the way for the remainder of the week, as temperatures rise close to 50 degrees through Friday and even warmer this weekend.

Winter weather making life difficult in the high country

Steve Watson works on his family's Christmas tree farm, Twin Pines Nursery, and has also been a bus driver for more than two decades in Avery County, where road conditions can change rapidly during the winter months.

"[Tuesday] morning, we had school on delay for two hours, and then it starts snowing and it starts freezing and temperatures dropping," Watson said.

Conditions in the mountains worsened as the day went on Tuesday, with temperatures plummeting and winds picking up.

The high country saw snow showers pick up late Tuesday morning, and a winter weather advisory was in effect through the day for the mountain communities, where 1-2 inches of snow accumulated by the evening hours.

Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty reported seeing freezing rain and sleet as he made his way to Avery County before noon, and snow showers were on and off as the wind continued to pick up.

"Little bit on the cool side. This wind, the way it picks up here, it blows pretty bad," resident Jerry Buckley said.

At some of the higher elevations, gusts were blowing at 30-40 mph, which made it difficult to walk.

"Hard to walk around? Yes, about fell over there," resident Jim Cornette said. "That's the way it is up on this mountain."

In Blowing Rock, temperatures were above freezing for much of the morning, but began to drop by about 2 degrees every hour later in the day.

The cold blast took hold in Linville as well, where Richard Gragg, a business owner, and other men rarely stopped moving during the afternoon as they tried to fill orders for firewood. By lunchtime, they had loaded hundred of pieces into their truck.

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"Phone ringing continuously, yes. It's cold and people are burning up their firewood," Gragg said.

The big concern heading into the overnight hours is the possibility of wet roads freezing. In some mountain areas, it will be 15-20 degrees colder than it was Monday night.

In Watauga County, officials with the Department of Transportation had extra road crews working Tuesday night, as temperatures dropped into the single digits by Wednesday morning and the salt they use is not as effective below 18-19 degrees.

Line crews in Avery County told Channel 9 that they were ready for possible power outages and are prepared for what could be a long night.

"With the wind, it can be sort of like fighting a war sometimes. You get something on, something else goes off," lineman Chad Smith said. "And it's just a sequence of events, and you just sort of got to ride it out until the weather stops."

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Cox Media Group