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Winter Storm Making Travel In Some Eastern Parks Dicey

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Published Date

January 6, 2017

Mammoth Cave National Park's first snow of the winter arrived Thursday, and by Friday morning icy conditions led to the temporary closure of some park roads/NPS photo of Three Springs Pump House at Mammoth Cave, taken Thursday, January 5, 2017

Travel in Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, and Shenandoah national parks, and no doubt in some others in the East, was dicey Friday morning due to a winter storm that was coating roads with ice and snow.

At Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, officials said the Cedar Sink, Flint Ridge, and Houchin Ferry roads all were closed due to poor road conditions. At Great Smoky Mountains, the Newfound Gap Road that crosses from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to Cherokee, North Carolina, was closed at least temporarily, as was the Wears Cove Gap Road. In Shenandoah, farther up the Appalachian Range in Virginia, the north and central districts of Skyline Drive were closed to travel Friday morning.

A winter storm warning issued for eastern Tennessee predicted that there would be widespread snowfall over the southern Appalachians late Friday through Saturday morning that would drop significant amounts on east Tennessee and the western North Carolina mountains and foothills.

High temperatures Friday would be in the low 20s at the three parks, while overnight lows could dip into or near the single digits, according to regional forecasts.

Farther north, weather conditions could delay the opening at General Grant National Memorial as well as Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, both in New York City. Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania was to open two hours late, at 11 a.m. Friday, due to the weather.

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