Whenever somebody complains about the weather in the Smoky Mountains, a typical response from one of the locals will be:
“Give it 15 minutes, it will change.”
And, as a whole that is right. The weather in the Smokies is relatively temperate. During the summer it does get warm and during the winter it does get bitter cold, but in the grand scheme of things, it is neither as hot or as cold as other areas of the country. In the summer, you can go to the top of the mountain in areas like Clingman’s Dome and during the winter you can stay in the lower elevations to stay a little warmer. The lower than average snow fall in the Smoky Mountains leaves the park open during most of the year, but the elevation means that places like Ober Gatlinburg and Cataloochee can make snow early and for a long time.
Weather data for Lower Elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
| Month |
High |
Low |
Monthly Precipitation |
Monthly Snowfall |
Days of Precipitation |
| Jan |
51 |
28 |
4.8″ |
2.3″ |
9 |
|
Feb |
54 |
29 |
4.8″ |
2.9″ |
9 |
|
March |
61 |
34 |
5.3″ |
T |
8 |
|
April |
71 |
42 |
4.5″ |
0 |
8 |
|
May |
79 |
50 |
4.5″ |
0 |
9 |
|
June |
86 |
58 |
5.2″ |
0 |
9 |
|
July |
88 |
59 |
5.7″ |
0 |
10 |
|
Aug |
87 |
60 |
5.3″ |
0 |
10 |
|
Sept |
83 |
55 |
3.0″ |
0 |
5 |
|
Oct |
73 |
43 |
3.1″ |
T |
6 |
|
Nov |
61 |
33 |
3.4″ |
0.7″ |
7 |
|
Dec |
52 |
28 |
4.5″ |
1.0″ |
8 |
Weather data for the Higher Elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
| Month |
High |
Low |
Monthly Precipitation |
Monthly Snowfall |
Days of Precipitation |
| Jan |
35 |
19 |
7.0″ |
18″ |
12 |
|
Feb |
35 |
18 |
8.2″ |
20″ |
12 |
|
March |
39 |
24 |
8.2″ |
26″ |
12 |
|
April |
49 |
34 |
6.5″ |
5″ |
10 |
|
May |
57 |
43 |
6.0″ |
T |
10 |
|
June |
63 |
49 |
6.9″ |
0 |
11 |
|
July |
65 |
53 |
8.3″ |
0 |
13 |
|
Aug |
64 |
52 |
6.8″ |
0 |
12 |
|
Sept |
60 |
47 |
5.1″ |
T |
8 |
|
Oct |
53 |
38 |
5.4″ |
2″ |
8 |
|
Nov |
42 |
28 |
6.4″ |
5″ |
9 |
|
Dec |
37 |
21 |
7.3″ |
8″ |
10 |