Icy roads close sections of Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville in NC

Southern sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina have been closed since Sunday because of snow and ice, The Asheville-Times reported.

Mount Mitchell State Park, at parkway milepost 355, was closed Sunday morning and through Monday because the road is icy. The parkway from mileposts 355.5 to 376, south and north of the park, remained closed Monday morning, according to the National Park Service.

The parkway is also closed between Cherokee and Black Balsam Mountain, mileposts 455.7 to 469.

Less than an inch of precipitation was recorded over the weekend by the National Weather Service in Asheville, about 33 miles south of Mount Mitchell, and the lowest temperature recorded was 31 degrees.

This week, a weak cold front will move toward the North Carolina mountains by early Wednesday morning, and temperatures are expected to be 5 to 7 degrees below normal, the National Weather Service reported.

The daily temperature ranges near Mount Mitchell are expected to be from the low 30s to the mid 50s for the rest of the week, with a small chance of rain. On Thanksgiving evening the temperature may dip below 30 degrees.

Visit the Blue Ridge Parkway’s real time map for updated road and park closure information.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Icy roads close sections of Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville in NC."