On comes winter
It looks like Mother Nature may have thrown the Highlands area a curve ball in 2019.
Everyone knows the four seasons are spring, summer, fall and winter, but this year the seasonal calendar has apparently flipped straight past autumn.
October was very summer-like, featuring well above average temperatures and nearly double the amount of rainfall expected based on the normal average. Since the beginning of November, the story has been the exact opposite – cold days and no measurable rain through Nov. 11.
Unfortunately, one of those trends was broken in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Frigid temperatures in the teens were made even more inhospitable by cold rain on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.
It was a brisk reminder that the winter months in Highlands can start any time and weather patterns can change at a moment’s notice.
Students at Highlands School got to sleep in on Tuesday due to the first two-hour delay of the 2019-20 school year. School officials, rightfully so, always error on the side of caution when freezing rain or snow are in the forecast.
The winter weather also served as a reminder of just how isolated Highlands is from the rest of the region.
Monday afternoon planning was already underway at businesses across town to take inclement weather into account. Because such a high percentage of Highlands’ workforce lives outside of town, often as far away as Franklin, or Clayton, Georgia, business owners have to have plans in place to account for staff members who may not be able to make it up NC106 or US64.
Fortunately, for those who did have to make the trek up to Highlands, the NC Department of Transportation and Town of Highlands road crews were out working to make travel as safe as possible. Any time there is winter precipitation, the DOT takes a hit from unsatisfied commuters, but the reality is they work as fast as possible with the resources at their disposal to clear the main routes across Macon County.
The good news, of course, is that temperatures were expected to climb back into the 50s by Friday in Highlands. But don’t let that fool you. It’s mid-November and winter’s early appearance isn’t likely to be a one-time event.