E-Club Winter Weather Contest Winner Announced

Brad Shaw, 29, of Johnson City, TN has been named the winner of the Grandfather Mountain Winter Weather Contest. With his expert knowledge of Grandfather’s coldest season, Shaw beat out 67 other contestants who submitted their forecasts online.

While many people got one or two questions right, Shaw took the prize with three correct answers. One other person answered three questions correctly, so it all came down to a question about the wind.

The tiebreaker question asked what would be the highest wind speed measured by the anemometer located on the Swinging Bridge. The correct answer was 107 mph recorded February 11. Shaw's answer was a scant 4 mph closer to that mark than the answer of his competitor.

Shaw was exactly correct when he said the temperature would fall to zero degrees or below on four days during the winter. Those days were January 2, 3, 20 and 25.

He also hit the nail on the head when he guessed that no snow would fall at Grandfather on Christmas Day and that the snowiest month would be January. A total of nine inches fell during the first month.

Between November 15, 2007 and April 15, 2008 Grandfather Mountain had at least a trace of snow on 27 days and received a total of 30.97 inches of snow. The coldest temperature recorded was minus four degrees on January 20.

Shaw said his 28 years of residency in Johnson City and frequent weekend trips to the North Carolina mountains helped with his predictions.

Shaw, who manages a farm supply store in Fall Branch, TN, has a wife, Vicci, and two sons, Landon (2) and Clayton (9).

“The first time Landon crossed the Swinging Bridge he was about six months old and it was 39 degrees up top. We had a great time! Our favorite part of Grandfather is the Swinging Bridge even though my wife and other son Clayton don’t share our joy for it,” said Shaw.

Even though only half of the Shaw family gets a thrill from crossing the bridge, Brad is quick to add that the whole family enjoys the animal habitats and hiking.

As winner of the Winter Weather Contest, Shaw receives a prize package consisting of a family pass to Grandfather for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Mountain.

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