A freeze watch covers Asheville from late Saturday night to 9 a.m. Sunday, with a low near 32 and widespread frost, days after the city hit a record 84 and a tied-record 86.
Asheville could see its first frost of the fall this weekend, days after record heat.
Updated Oct. 24: Asheville stayed just above freezing. The airport recorded a low of 33 degrees at 6:45 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, and 33 again at 6:47 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19, according to the National Weather Service’s climate reports for Oct. 18 and Oct. 19. Both were 12 degrees below normal.
The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, issued a freeze watch for the mountains of western North Carolina on Friday night. It runs from late Saturday night until 9 a.m. Sunday. The watch says temperatures as low as 30 degrees are possible, especially at higher elevations. A watch means a freeze could happen. The weather service may upgrade it to a warning.
The forecast for Asheville
The weather service’s forecast for the city calls for:
- Saturday: a chance of showers before 8 a.m., then mostly sunny and windy, with a high near 55 and gusts up to 31 mph
- Saturday night: clear, with a low around 32 and areas of frost after 3 a.m.
- Sunday: widespread frost before 10 a.m., then sunny, with a high near 63
- Sunday night: a low around 34, with areas of frost after 4 a.m.
- Monday: areas of frost before 9 a.m., then sunny, with a high near 67
A record-hot week
The cold follows some of the warmest mid-October days on record in Asheville. The weather service’s daily climate reports for the Asheville station show:
- Wednesday, Oct. 14: a high of 84 degrees, a record for the date. The old record was 82, set in 1928.
- Thursday, Oct. 15: a high of 86, which tied the record set in 1897.
- Friday, Oct. 16: a high of 83 by 5 p.m., according to the weather service’s afternoon report. The record for the date is 87.
The normal high for these dates is 70 degrees. Asheville’s weather records go back to 1869.
The highs for Monday and Tuesday, 78 and 82 degrees, are in the weather service’s climate reports for Oct. 12 and Oct. 13.
What it means for you
The freeze watch says frost and freeze could kill crops and other sensitive plants, and could damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. The weather service advises:
- take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold
- drain in-ground sprinkler systems
- remove hoses and cover above-ground pipes
Expect a windy, much cooler Saturday if you are heading to an outdoor event. See our things to do this weekend for what is on.
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