Asheville, Western NC Weekend Weather: Heavy Rain, Travel Delays

On By Littum

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With an abnormally dry December almost over, the western North Carolina region is expected to see some much needed rain over the weekend.

However, heavy rain can bring some dangers with it.

Although a danger alert was issued for large parts of the region at 4:09 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27, National Weather Service officials told the Citizen Times that the amount of rain expected will most likely be largely beneficial given current conditions.

Here’s what you need to know about the weather.

Is Asheville, WNC in a drought?

NWS meteorologist Clay Chaney told the Citizen Times that virtually all of WNC is currently under abnormally dry relationship.

“We’ve had 2.96 inches of rain in the month of December and we’re about half an inch below normal,” Chaney said.

With an average of 2-2.5 inches of rain expected in the Buncombe County area, plus locally higher amounts of up to 5 inches in some WNC areas, Chaney said the heavy rainfall will likely be “more beneficial than anything else.”

Damaging winds, floods?

The severe weather outlook issued by the NWS on Dec. 27 called for potential strong to severe storms developing ahead of an approaching cold front Sunday morning through Sunday afternoon. The main danger mentioned in connection with the storms was damaging wind gusts.

“The timing is still uncertain,” Chaney said. “Normally in these cases it would be out of here by Sunday afternoon at the latest. Saturday night into Sunday morning, definitely the time frame we’re watching with the potential for gusty winds associated with any line of thunderstorms moving through.”

Although no severe flooding is expected, the outlook called for potential “generic flooding.”

More: Heavy rain headed for North Carolina: Here’s how much Asheville, Western NC could get

Potential travel delays

While the heavy rain will likely be beneficial to the unusually dry conditions in the WNC region, Chaney added that it could “throw a monkey wrench” into holiday travel plans. He expected the impact to be greater for anyone planning to fly into or out of WNC, especially around Sunday, December 29th.

Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact her at [email protected].