Evaluation of Temperature Variations Around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Their Associated Synoptic Weather Patterns

摘要

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina contains some of the highest and most varying terrain in the eastern United States. The National Weather Services Weather Forecast Office (WFO) at Morristown, Tennessee has responsibility for issuing public zone forecasts for the Tennessee side of the park, and fire weather forecasts for the entire park. Forecasters at WFO Morristown generally forecast temperatures in the southern Appalachian Mountains up to around 5000 ft MSL, since Highway 441 (the main road through GSMNP) crosses Newfound Gap at this elevation. A need for a study to determine the general range of temperatures observed in the complex terrain during different seasons and synoptic weather patterns. The purposes of this study are to examine seasonal differences in the average temperatures around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and compare daily temperature differences to their associated synoptic weather patterns.