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Winter weather arrived early in Highlands, as freezing rain and falling temperatures greeted commuters on Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement on Monday afternoon and declared a freeze warning for Highlands and Cashiers from 4 a.m. on Tuesday through 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
In the interest of safety, Macon County Schools Superintendent Chris Baldwin, along with Highlands School administrators, made the decision to put the school on a two-hour delay and begin Tuesday’ classes at 10 a.m.
“I rely on principal (Brian) Jetter and his staff to keep me informed of the road conditions in Highlands,” Baldwin said. “Principal (Mark) Pyle monitors road conditions in Nantahala. Mr. Jetter and Mr. Pyle have protocols that they follow in order to ensure the safety of our students during a weather event.”
Because Highlands has its own bus system, Baldwin noted that the school district has the option to make weather-related scheduling decisions independent of Franklin area schools. In Franklin, temperatures were warm enough that there was no delay on Tuesday.
As the cold rain began to freeze, NC Department of Transportation crews worked to treat area roads. The effort began with the main routes into Highlands – US64, NC106 and NC28.
“Maintenance crews have begun snow and ice operations and we are constantly monitoring the major routes for any signs of snow and ice,” Macon County DOT Maintenance Engineer Mark Hill said on Tuesday morning. “Crews will be in snow and ice removal vehicles, which are equipped to spread salt along any route that is in need. We will continue to monitor and provide snow and ice removal operations until the event is over. In the interest of public safety, we advise that in the event of snow or freezing rain, that the public remain off of the roads unless absolutely necessary.”
By Tuesday afternoon the precipitation had passed Western North Carolina, but temperatures in the 20s combined with already wet roads was a cause for concern. Temperatures continued to fall into the early hours of Wednesday morning, bottoming out at 15 degrees with a wind chill in the single digits.
The extended forecast calls for temperatures to rebound throughout the rest of the week with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s, with little chance of precipition through Sunday.