The WNC Fog Lady

Many weatherlore float around these mountains about this time.. drifting from conversation to conversation as if they were contagious in the wind. Old timers check their corns husk, and count the fogs in August to foretell what winter will hold. These notions have been passed down from generations, not because they are tall tells, but because there is a little something to their truths. Denise Hager Teague continues to carry on the traditions of the past, and has been counting foggy August mornings at here house in Johnathan Creek, NC for several years. Upon finding this out, I messaged her to see if she could send me some of her data.

Her Data

Some of you in the area may know Denise from her days of owning a toy store in Waynesville where she says she used to post her fog data on the facebook page, but now Denise works as a Finance Manager. She says “I do count fog at my house and I do count snows. I publish it on my Facebook page. I started posting it several years ago when I owned a toy store in Waynesville. I would post it on my store Facebook page as a way to engage people for interaction. When I closed the store, people kept asking so I moved to my personal page.” So here is her data…

Year Fogs Snows

2010-2011 15 13
2011-2012 19 7
2012-2013 15 12
2013-2014 16 16
2014-2015 18 7
2015-2016 8 7
2016-2017 19 17
2017-2018 9 8
2018-2019 19 5

2019-2020 9 ???

So, Denise is expecting the possibility of 9 snows at her house this year in Johnathan Creek at 3200’ For 2019-2020. There are some rules however though to how you derive your counts.

Counting Rules

Here is Denise’s Disclamer: “The number of fogs in August is a forecast of the number of measurable snows during the upcoming season. Measurable means that you are able to track a rabbit. Fog counts and measurable snows are site specific so my count is for my house at approximately 7 am each day in August. It is a FORECAST so it is as "accurate" as anything else we have! Plus it is site-specific - my house!” So Denise is not forecasting 9 snows for your location, but for hers! A good general consensus around WNC though is that we saw 7-11 fog mornings in August, but if you live near a body of water, your count was likely higher.

Denise loves winter, just like many other Ashevillewx followers do. A few more fun facts about Denise is that she and her Daughter sold 2,681 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in 2017! WOW! Thats a lot of Thin Mints. I want to thank Denise for taking the time to send in her fog data, this is now the second year of this articled I will continue to keep you updated on Denises count each year! Thanks Denise!