Snow in March

[JimSproul]

Most of the books hitting the street at the moment are from the 1996 season and the weather was cold/snowy. We plan to leave Springer on March 1. We can handle the cold but are concerned about weather.

If I was still in New England I would take snowshoes. Do we need them in March in Georgia? I don't mind post-holing through a few drifts but snowshoes sure make the miles go faster when you have real accumulation.





:confused:

[weathercarrot]

Southern Appalachian snowfall in the spring rarely has the consistent depth that would require snowshoes. While the exceptional storms get much attention, I would say that it is not worth carrying them. However, once you get above the 5,000 foot level in the NC/TN Smokies, as well as the highest peaks northward to Mount Rogers, snowshoe conditions in most years become more common in the mid-winter period, occasionally with enough stability to extend into march in the spruce-fir zones. Even so, outside of the Jan 1st to Feb 15th starting time, it is only the rare thru-hiker that takes them along and finds them consistenly necessary. And certainly a March start in Georgia leaves you with minimal chance of that kind of snowpack (with the exceptions of March 1993, April 1987, and several more on the high NC/VA peaks). Here is my AT snowfall site:

http://friends.backcountry.net/snowmaps

If one were to use my maps as a "snowshoes in the south" guide, I would say that a rough rule of thumb would be that the chances of them being needed are highest in zones above 70 inches at certain periods from around Christmas to March 1st, but rarely continuously throughout that time. I hope this helps.

[Two Speed]

Can't see why you'd want snowshoes. We do get some snow, but I've never seen enough accumulation to justify the weight.

Now that I think about, I've been hiking in the Georgia area for 15 or so years, and I haven't ever seen anyone carrying snowshoes. Of course, they would make you stand out of the crowd, so to speak! :D

[mikethulin]

started on springer in march of 2002 going north and about a day north of neals gap ( sorry cant remember date) we woke up to 7 degress and a dusting of snow
no snowshoes but some coldweather gear for sure

[weathercarrot]

Yes, cold and snow is usually inevitable with a March start. Not needing snowshoes does not mean a lack of snow. The typical spring time pattern is to have wide temperature and precipitation fluctuations throughout March, April, and even May, and the nature of those fluctuations vary significantly from one year to the next. Every year people hike through many days at a time of 70's and promptly send their cold weather gear home, only to be slammed with hypothermia conditions shortly after. The diversity of southern Appalachian climate within the spring season is a fascinating thing to experience. Just be prepared for it.

[JimSproul]

Thanks All!

That is just what I was looking for. Thanks for the info.

[Pedestrian]

You may what to try some light wieght traction devices. They only weight a few onces and the cost is $20-30. Icy trails are more common that snowy ones and can end your trip in a hurry.

[Skyline]

Wow, Weathercarrot! That is an IMPRESSIVE snowfall site!

Did you obtain the info from the NWS and make your own maps, or are they government maps? Either way, awesome and potentially helpful to hikers.

Skyline

P.S.: If you made them yourself, what application, may I ask, did you use? They appear to be layered Adobe Illustrator or maybe Photoshop, unless there is a mapmaking app I haven't used/seen before. I make maps for tourism brochures all the time, and appreciate the quality in yours. Assuming you did these, do you ever take on freelance assignments that have tight deadlines? :-)

P.P.S.: Only other comment: for those of us living in places where 56K is about as good as it gets, the site and each map take a LONG time to download.

[Skyline]

Ooops! Questions answered...the home page finally finished downloading and I followed the sources and acknowledgement links. Man, this must have been a project that took forever to complete. I now do remember several conversations back on AT-L years ago when I subscribed to that.

[weathercarrot]

You can also go to the Project Description and History page for all the details on how I made the maps and how the data was used. The Other Links page shows additional climate/weather resources that are specific to this area of interest.