Weather in the GSMNP

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