Southern Mountains - Snow?

[Thorfinn]

Hello,
I am doing the AT as a series of day hikes and would like to get a few more miles in before winter really sets in. I am thinking of driving from Maine next week and am looking at the Damascus area, south from Fontana Dam or around Hiawassee depending on conditions. Does anyone have any information on snow conditions at the higher elevations in these areas. I don't mind a couple of inches of snow but don't want to be out there alone in serious snow. Naturally, I will be watching the weather closely.

Thanks very much,

Thorfinn

[PatmanTN]

I was on the AT in the Smokies and near Cheoah / Stecoah last week and there was no significant snow laying. Any north face or dark area was icy and had a bit of snow but not much. Damascus is a bit farther north so I can't speak to that specifically. You might try calling hostel or outfitter in the area as they stay pretty well informed. Of course most all mountains have highly changeable weather so even eye witness reports only have so much value.

[HooKooDooKu]

The GSMNP maintains two web cams:
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/grsmcam/grsmcam.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmpkcam/grsmpkcam.cfm

If you check out the archives for any given day in the winter...
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/grsmcam/grsm_arc.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmpkcam/grsmpk_arc.cfm
...you will see that the odds are that you will either have no snow or just a few inches.

However, it is also not uncommon for there to be brief periods of over a foot of snow. A recent unusual weather pattern caused a snow storm Nov 1st 2014 that had places like LeConte Lodge with more than 2 feet of snow with drifts as high as 5 feet in places.

So you just never know what you're going to get until you get a chance to check out the weather forecast (and it's sometimes wrong).

[illabelle]

We were in the Hiawassee area over the weekend. There was a dusting of snow on the higher elevations Thursday, most of it gone during bright sun on Friday, but still a scant inch on the north slopes and anywhere there was shade. Snow was not an impediment to travel.
Of course, that's the past...

[full conditions]

I just got back down from Wesser Bald about 20 minutes ago and there was some snow above 4000' but it was not very deep (a couple of inches in places) and not enough to interfere with hiking in a pair of running shoes.