Now you have access to data recorded daily since August 1955 at the U.S. Weather Service reporting station on Grandfather Mountain. Click Here for the latest observation of weather data from the automated weather station at the Nature Museum or the Swinging Bridge Visitor Center. The official US Weather Service Reporting Station located at the Swinging Bridge Visitor Center has been providing daily weather observations since August of 1955. Each day, trained Grandfather Mountain employees call the National Weather Service regional office in Asheville to report the minimum and maximum temperatures, rainfall, snowfall, wind direction and velocity. A monthly record of that information is filed each month with the Department of Commerce.
Weather instruments are accessible to the public in two locations.
A wind gauge and a digital thermometer are located across from the main entry to the Visitor Center and a computerized weather readout is incorporated into the weather exhibit in the Nature Museum. With rare exceptions, the temperature will be 10 to 20 degrees cooler at Grandfather Mountain than in the flatlands below. The average rate is 2.2 degrees per 1,000 feet, meaning that for each thousand feet gained, the air is 2.2 degrees cooler. Rainfall Average Annual Rainfall 62.45 in. Most Rain in One Day 6.38 in.