Asheville reacts: Snovember is upon us

When the winter holiday decorations go up in stores at the strike of midnight on Nov. 1, many around the country let out a collective, not-so-festive groan.

This year, however, it feels a little more appropriate — (though I still wouldn’t recommend putting up red-and-green lights or a blow-up lawn Santa until after Thanksgiving). Just minutes after midnight on Halloween night, the rain turned to snow, blanketing Western North Carolina with a wintery scene in the midst of fall. It was a wet and dreary night for trick-or-treaters, but that didn’t stop the infamous Vermont Avenue from attracting crowds of ghosts, goblins and princesses from around the city.

The rain didn’t stop kids as they marched down the street in search of candy, stopping at the occasional kid-friendly porch dance-party for live music. But as they were coming down from their inevitable annual sugar highs and resting their heads, the first snowflakes of the season began to fall.

The hues of red, orange and yellow leaves still clinging to the trees turned to white, and snow keeps falling throughout the morning. In fact, snow is not predicted to stop until 1 p.m., when the temperature rises to the mid-to-upper 30s, and then falls again to 34 around sunset for possible continued snow through the night.

Welcome to early winter, WNC. Here’s what residents and visitors around the region have to say about Snovember: