December 2024 saw pretty standard conditions for the month on Grandfather Mountain, according to data recorded at the park’s official weather reporting stations.
The average high temperature for December 2024 was 37.29 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average low of 24.67 degrees and a mean of 30.98 degrees.
The warmest temperature recorded for the month was 54 degrees on Dec. 18, exactly 9 degrees shy of the mountain’s record December high of 63 degrees, observed on Dec. 7, 1956. Generally, December sees winter weather conditions set in on Grandfather Mountain.
Dec. 6 saw the coldest temperature recorded during the month with 2.3 degrees. A wind chill of minus 22.68 was noted that same day. There were 10 other days that also recorded negative wind chills. The lowest temperature ever observed on Grandfather Mountain in the month of December (not counting wind chill) was minus 21 degrees on Dec. 25, 1983.
The weather station on the Mile High Swinging Bridge noted five days in December with a wind gust higher than 60 mph. On Dec. 11, the weather station at the top recorded a wind gust of 91.5 mph, while the month’s highest recorded sustained wind speed clocked in at 53.4 mph that same day. The highest gust ever recorded on Grandfather Mountain was 124 mph, observed Feb. 25, 2019.
The weather station near the Swinging Bridge reported 5.97 inches of precipitation for December. Precipitation at the top of the mountain includes rain and the liquid equivalent of any frozen precipitation (when applicable).
Observations recorded near the park’s Wilson Center for Nature Discovery totaled 8.01 inches of precipitation for the month and also noted 3.0 inches of snowfall. Precipitation is also measured at the latter location, as high winds can make it difficult to record accurate observations at the top.
The mountain’s rainiest December was recorded in 2018, when 10.70 inches were observed near the bridge. The driest December on record was observed in 1965, when 0.55 inches were recorded.
There were 17 days of at least trace amounts of recorded liquid precipitation (rain and the liquid equivalent of frozen precipitation, when applicable) for December 2024, five days short of the record 22 days in 1972 and 1981. The days with the highest amount of this precipitation observed were Dec. 11 and 29, when 1.52 inches were recorded at the top. The day with the highest amount of precipitation observed on record for December was Dec. 28, 1958, when the weather station observed 3.46 inches.
Weather Reporting
The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation records and reports data in two different ways:
- The park maintains an automated weather station at the top of the Mile High Swinging Bridge. The N.C. State Climate Office assists the foundation in calibrating the machines and ensuring overall accuracy of data.
- Grandfather Mountain has been an active member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Cooperative Observer Program since 1955 by reporting weather data from locations near the Mile High Swinging Bridge and the Nature Museum (now the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery).
For more information on weather at Grandfather Mountain, visit www.grandfather.com/weather.