Winter Storms and the Affects of Elevation
Griffin Tracy & Joshua Geiger
ABSTRACT
Winter storms can be very destructive and
cause major damage to infrastructure and
personal property. There is a positive
correlation with the potential of winter storms
causing damage and where in elevation
these storms occur. Haywood County, North
Carolina is one of the many counties that is
at an elevated risk of these severe winter
storms due to their elevation levels.
INTRO
Ready.gov classifies a winter storm as a
storm that can bring extreme cold, freezing
rain, snow, ice, high winds, and can last as
short as a few hours or as long as several
days (n.d.). At the start of the research
Haywood County GIS analyst Austin Bryant
asked for information about areas in the
county that reached over 3500 feet above
sea level. Mr. Bryant is looking to use this
data to inform residents of Haywood County
that live in these elevated areas about any
potential risk of a storm occurring that might
affect them specifically.
OBJECTIVES
• Locating areas of vulnerability to winter
storms in Haywood County.
• Collecting data about sever winter
weather and its effects on the community.
• Collaborate with Haywood County
emergency managers to map out
elevation levels of the county.
• Analyze and provide data for Haywood
County emergency managers to
incorporate into their pre-existing warning
system to help alert residents.
METHODS
The methods used to conduct this research
were ArcGIS, Ready.gov, and Haywood
County Emergency Managers. ArcGIS is a
geographical mapping application used my
emergency managers to plot areas of
vulnerability to specific hazards. The
government website called ready.gov was
used to gather information about winter
storms and the severity of consequences that
can occur. The research was conducted in
partnership with the Haywood County
Emergency Management Agency who
provided GIS data and resources about the
county’s elevation levels. The information
generated from the study will be used by
Haywood County Emergency Managers to
know areas of vulnerability based on their
elevation. With that information, emergency
managers will he creating a warning system
that provides emergency information to the
residents at risk of severe winter weather.
North Carolina
Figure one show above is a reference map
highlighting the location of Haywood County in the
state of North Carolina. The western portion of the
state has three different major mountain ranges
including the Appalachian Mountains, the Great
Smoky Mountains, and the Blue Ridge Mountains
RESULTS
The results of the data analysis and
collection are shown below in figure 2. The
light blue area that is highlighted on the map
of Haywood County represents the areas of
the county that exceed 3,500 feet in
elevation. These areas are at an increased
risk of more frequent and more sever winter
storms where as places under 3,500 feet
might not be as much of a concern. The
danger comes from both the storm and not
being able to respond to people who are
affect by the storm due to unsafe conditions
surrounding the area. This data that was
collected will be passed along to Haywood
County Emergency Management to be
utilized in their county wide alert system.
This system is used to alert specific
vulnerable populations that might be effected
by this hazard.
Haywood County Elevation Map
Figure two located above is Haywood County, NC.
Highlighted in the light blue areas is places in the
county that exceed the elevation of 3500 feet above
sea level. The red shading is everything that is below
the 3500 foot mark in Haywood County.
Emergency and Disaster Management Program
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Prioritize areas of high elevation in the
emergency warning systems 
• Retrofit old buildings to better withstand winter
weather effects 
• Strengthen building codes for new structures
that are built over 3,500 feet
• Add areas of high elevation to the community
mitigation plan
• Find access roads that can be prioritized when
recovering from winter weather
• Educate the people living in communities over
3,500 feet on emergency warning information
and procedures of evacuation or sheltering to
keep them safe
• Train and educate first responders and law
enforcement on how to address winter weather
disasters in areas of high elevation
References
Bryant, A. 10/07/2019. Personal Contact
Ready.gov. (n.d.). Snowstorms & Extreme
Cold. Retrieved from https://www.ready.gov/winter-
weather
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Haywood County Emergency Management
for providing this opportunity, and a special thanks to GIS
analyst Austin Bryans for helping in the research of data
for this project. Thank you Dr. Julia Crowley for the advice
and support given throughout this research.
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