Data recorded at the official National Weather Service reporting station at Grandfather Mountain’s Mile High Swinging Bridge indicated average March weather at the Linville, N.C., nature park.
The lowest temperature observed was 17° Fahrenheit on both March 6 and 7, with the lowest wind chill at -1.7 on March 2. On March 28, the station recorded a wind gust of 83.7 mph, while the highest sustained wind speed clocked in at 69 mph on March 1.
The lowest recorded temperature ever observed in the month of March on Grandfather Mountain was -9° on March 9, 1996.
The warmest day recorded in March 2021 was 64° on March 27, eight degrees shy of the mountain’s record March high of 72°, recorded March 30, 1985.
On March 20, the first day of spring, the high was 40° with a low of 20°.
The average high temperature for the month was 49.9°, with an average low of 32.3°, for a March 2021 mean of 41.1°.
As observed at the park’s nature museum, the mountain saw 6.47 inches of precipitation last month. Precipitation is measured at this lower elevation, as high winds make it difficult to record accurate snow and precipitation observations at the top.
No significant snowfall was recorded in March 2021. The snowiest March on record was in 1981, when 33.6 total inches of snow were recorded.
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 daily temperature, precipitation and weather events from locations near the Mile High Swinging Bridge and the Nature Museum.
For more information on weather at Grandfather Mountain, visit http://bit.ly/gfmweather.
The nonprofit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation strives to inspire conservation of the natural world by helping guests explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain. For more information, call 800-468-7325, or visit www.grandfather.com to book a trip.