Winter is coming ... inevitably

Well, it's here!

First, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced a few days ago that it's starting to operate on its "winter schedule." The Visitors' Centers have cut back their hours, and some roads are being closed. You can see all the schedule changes and closings by clicking here.

If that isn't enough, I started yesterday getting warnings about possible snow. Sure enough, earlier today, the Asheville Citizen-Times ran this story about Highway 441 being closed through the park from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, due to ice and snow.

The good news is that we don't have a rock slide on I-40 to contend with, like we did last year at this time (at least, there hasn't been a report of one yet).

I talked with Ingrid, our cleaner, this afternoon. She told me, "It's snowing up high in the mountains, but it's just rain in Gatlinburg. It's supposed to be cold and snowy or rainy for the next day or so. After that, it's back to the 60s during the day and 30s and 40s at night.

We're prepared this year - especially at Smoky Mountain Tower. We've hired somebody to plow our street when it snows and put salt on the hill. So we're hoping (and praying) that nobody will have a problem.

If you want to check the Gatlinburg weather (and traffic), we recommend checking the Space Needle Webcam. Just remember, winter is one of the very special times in the Smokies. So we hope you'll come and enjoy it - either from Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out.