A furious, albeit brief, snowstorm Friday morning dumped about three inches of snow around Highlands, temporarily paralyzing roads leading up and down the mountain.
Officially, 2.65 inches of snow fell at the Highlands Recreation Center weather station on Fourth Street, according to Maxine Ramey, who monitors the weather station, but said accumulation was higher in other places around town.
“Different elevations and places had higher amounts of accumulation,” she said. “We had snowfall from 8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.”
On NC 106 at The Mountain Retreat, snowfall made the road between Highlands and Scaly impassible.
About 25 vehicles were stranded on NC 106 between Highlands and Scaly Mountain waiting on NC Department of Transportation plow and salt trucks, and warming temperatures to melt the slick roadways.
Linda Mobley, of Dillard, was on her way to work when she became stranded with a dozen other vehicles.
“I drive a truck and thought I’d be able to make it, but I was wrong,” she said. “I guess there’s nothing to do but go back home.”
Jorge Rodriguez and Carlos Jimenez, of Otto, said they walked about a mile up the hill from where their truck had been stranded along NC 106, looking for the salt truck to clear the road.
Along with a Highlands Police Officer, the stranded motorists worked at getting vehicles moved off the road in order for the NCDOT snow plow and salt truck to have room to clear a lane of travel.
The salt truck passed Bartram Way and Turtle Pond Road where more than a dozen vehicles sat at a standstill around 10:20 a.m. and traffic began moving once again around 10:30 a.m., albeit slowly.
With temperatures rising above freezing, the icy roads began to melt. In Scaly, NC 106 traffic proceeded at about 10-15 miles per hour. By Sky Valley, Georgia, lanes were clear. Snow fell as far south as Tallulah Falls, but with little or no accumulation.
Highlands Police Department Chief Bill Harrell said his officers answered five wrecks Friday morning.
“We were dispatched to three in town and two outside the town limits, with no injuries or damages,” he said. “They had slid off the road and were eventually unstuck and on their way.”