Blue Ridge Escarpment

Many times during my forecasts I refer to the area known as the Blue Ridge Escarpment. This is the area where the Foothills meet the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many times during Cold Air Damming(CAD) events, these locations will experience surface temperatures that are slightly low then other area locations. When this occurs in winter, icing or even snow can occur in these locations when others just 10-15 miles away are seeing rainfall. As strong high pressure funnels air in from the colder Northeast, this cold air hits the mountains and banks up. Sometimes the high pressure is strong enough (usually +1030mb) to push cold air into Asheville, but other times the Blue Ridge Escarpment area will see freezing rain/sleet when Downtown Asheville on experiences rainfall.