March 2025 saw drier-than-normal conditions for the month on Grandfather Mountain, according to data recorded at the park’s official weather reporting stations.
The average high temperature for March 2025 was 47.47 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average low of 31.65 degrees and a mean of 39.56 degrees.
The warmest temperature recorded last month was 62.1 degrees on March 12, almost 10 degrees shy of the mountain’s record March high of 72 degrees, observed March 30, 1985.
March 2 saw the coldest temperature recorded last month with 7.3 degrees. A wind chill of minus 15.01 was noted that same day. There were four other days in March that also recorded negative wind chills. The lowest temperature ever observed on Grandfather Mountain in the month of March (not counting wind chill) was minus 9 degrees on March 9, 1996.
The weather station on the Mile High Swinging Bridge noted 11 days in March with a wind gust higher than 60 mph. On March 16, the weather station at the top recorded a wind gust of 87.6 mph, while the month’s highest recorded sustained wind speed clocked in at 52.8 mph on March 21. The highest gust ever recorded on Grandfather Mountain was 124 mph, observed Feb. 25, 2019.
The weather station near the Swinging Bridge reported 2.67 inches of precipitation in March 2025, the eighth lowest monthly March total in Grandfather’s history of recording weather. Precipitation at the top of the mountain includes rain and the liquid equivalent of any frozen precipitation (when applicable). Due to wind, snow depth is not recorded at the top.
Observations recorded near the park’s Wilson Center for Nature Discovery totaled 4.59 inches of precipitation and also noted 0.6 inches of snowfall for the month. 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 March was recorded in 1963, when 11.70 inches were observed near the bridge. The driest March on record was observed in 2016, when 1.01 inches were measured at the top.
There were 10 days of at least trace amounts of recorded liquid precipitation (rain and the liquid equivalent of frozen precipitation, when applicable) for March 2025. Ten days of rain for the month is the third lowest number for March days with precipitation. A total of ten days of precipitation also occurred in 1968 and 2007. The record lowest for the month is three days in 2013. The day last month with the highest amount of this precipitation observed was March 5, when 1.29 inches were recorded at the top. The day with the highest amount of precipitation observed on record for March was March 12, 1963, when the weather station noted 6.38 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.