Today’s burning question from a reader is much colder than usual and involves the history of the French Broad River.
Question: Has the French Broad River in Asheville ever frozen?
Answer: While it may be hard to imagine, with February temperatures climbing above 60 in Asheville this winter, the city’s section of the French Broad river has a recorded history of freezes that dates back over a century.
Any Asheville resident knows that a frozen French Broad is, at the very least, far from a normal occurrence. The National Weather Service office in Greer, South Carolina, responsible for weather data collection in the Asheville area, was unable to identify whether the river had frozen in the past. Meteorologists also explained that it is essentially impossible to determine exactly what weather conditions would be needed for this type of freeze to occur.
“It depends on things like the current, the depth of the water, how long it might be below freezing. There are a lot of variables,” Meteorologist Clay Chaney said.