A relatively warm December brought an end to a warm and dry year at the official U.S. Weather Service reporting station next to the Mile High Swinging Bridge.
 The average high temperature of 42.66 degrees was 4.09 degrees warmer than normal.  The average low temperature for December was 33.37 degrees, clocked in at 9.42 degrees warmer than the 51-year average for the month.
Three daily high temperature records were broken in December.  The temperature reached 57 degrees on December 10, breaking a previous record for that day of 54 degrees set in 1972.  The next day a temperature of 62 degrees broke the previous record for December 11 of 57 degrees set in 1979.  A temperature reading of 55 degrees on December 13 broke the previous daily high temperature record for that day of 54 degrees set in 1975.
Wind speeds exceeded 60 mph three times during December.
 December’s 5.21 inches of snow was 4.18 inches, or 44 percent below normal. The December rainfall total of 3.37 inches was .6 inches, or 15 percent, below normal.
  The rainfall total for the year was 47.12 inches.  The average annual rainfall at the Mountain is 63.01 inches, making the 2007 total 15.89 inches, or 25 percent, below normal.
The year 2007 is the fourth driest that Grandfather Mountain has ever experienced.  The driest was 45.07 inches in 1963.
In 2007, the month with the most rain was October with 7.94 inches and the month with the least rain was November with 1.06 inches.  The most rain to fall in one day during 2007 was 2.03 inches on September 14.
 Temperatures were slightly warmer than usual at Grandfather Mountain in 2007.  The average mean temperature was 48.34 degrees, which was 2.05 degrees warmer than normal.  The average high temperature for the year of 54.91 degrees was 1.49 degrees warmer than normal and the average low temperature of 41.77 was 2.62 degrees warmer than normal.
 Twenty-eight new daily high temperature records and two new daily low temperature records were established in 2007.  Three daily high records and two daily low records were tied.
  The warmest temperature in 2007 was 81 degrees on August 9 and 16.  The warmest temperature ever recorded on the Mountain is 83 degrees set on August 22, 1983 and tied July 26, 2005.
The coldest temperature in 2007 was minus 4 degrees on January 29. The coldest temperature ever recorded at Grandfather is minus 32 degrees on January 21, 1985.
Grandfather Mountain installed a new anemometer February 15 on the Mile High Swinging Bridge in response to claims by the experts that the winds speeds measured by the wind sensor on top of the Top Shop building were inflated. The meteorologist said that winds hitting the side of the building were being compressed upward, spilling over the roof and striking the equipment at an accelerated rate.  For this reason they felt that the anemometer’s readings were not reflective of the true wind speeds at the top of Grandfather Mountain. The new anemometer was placed under guidance from members of the State Climate Office of North Carolina, NOAA, and Appalachian State University to conform to accepted scientific standards.
In 2007 wind speeds recorded by the new anemometer exceeded 60 mph 25 times.
Total snowfall for 2007 was 40.86 inches compared to a 51-year average of 55.39 inches, down 26 percent.
For more information on the 51 years of weather data from Grandfather Mountain, see the interactive weather database at www.grandfather.com.