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Ask Matt ... When was last time we had two winters of no snow?

The last big snow in Henderson County was on Jan. 16, 2022, when 11 inches was recorded. [LIGHTNING FILE PHOTO]

By Matt Matteson, Published: May 12, 2024

Q. Have we now gone two years without a snow? If so, when was the last time we went two winters with no snow?

    “We just set the record,” said Pat Moore, a 25-year meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C. “And each day that goes by we are adding to it.” Moore said the last recorded snow (three tenths of an inch) in Henderson County was March 12, 2022 — more than two years ago. The last major snowfall was only two months prior to that when on Jan. 16, 2022, almost a foot (11.0 inches) of snow fell in Hendersonville. Moore was fairly confident that there would not be another snow in lower elevations until maybe October. “But sometimes we can get a snow on Mt. Pisgah as late as May,” he said.

   To track down the last two-year snowless period in the county, I pulled a copy of the Kermit Edney Weather Book: Everybody Talks About It, written by the legendary WHKP radio broadcaster. Edney’s publication showed that only twice were there two consecutive years absent a snowfall – 1899 to1901 and 1918 to1920. There were never three snowless years in a row. Our Moonshine Mountain Snow Tubing Park has survived by making snow but two years in a row without the natural white stuff makes for tough sledding.

   Moore also shared a caveat. Between Feb. 11, 2011, and Feb. 13, 2013, Asheville Regional Airport recorded no snow but it only counts as one year because the NWS defines the winter season as November to April. Two years yes, but not two winter seasons. The NWS defines any snowfall less than one tenth of an inch as a trace and not measurable.

Q. What was a helicopter doing for over an hour hovering over Edneyville on around 3 a.m. in the morning of April, 7?

   Speaking of air cold enough to freeze water, the chopper was pushing warmer air down to orchards. “We hired a helicopter out of Anderson, South Carolina,” said Greg Nix, who grows 40 acres of apples in Edneyville. Nix, a longtime apple grower, explained the value of moving air in the “inversion layer,” where cold air meets warm air. Just enough movement sometimes keeps the buds from frost damage and there were predictions of freezing temperatures. “I think I still have a crop of apples,” said Nix when asked if the cost of the helicopter was worth it.  He did not share the actual cost but did admit, “Ain’t nothing cheap.”

Q. What is the octagonal building in the middle of the Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville used for? It looks like a maintenance building.

   It’s called the pavilion. Hendersonville city officials said that graveside services were once held inside the building during bad weather but today’s large funeral home tents shuttered the wooden structure many years ago. The city put up plywood panels to prevent vandalism to the colored glass windows. The pavilion is estimated to be more than 120 years old and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although there is no sign or plaque on the structure depicting such.

   True, boarded up and with contemporary shingles, it looks nothing like a historical building nor does it complement Oakdale Cemetery’s Italian marble “Homeward Angel” statue. I have in the past suggested that the city install a short black metal ornamental fence on either side of U.S. 64 West to give the cemetery some “definition” and to protect the grave sites from vehicular damage. Giving the pavilion some needed “love” might be part of such a project. The dead, I am sure, would be grateful.

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