I enjoy photographing in every season of the year.  In the winter my favorite time to create images is just after a snowstorm.   

There aren't many opportunities for snow images in the cities and lower-elevation valleys of northeast Tennessee since the annual snowfall is 16.9 inches.  However, the phenomena of upslope snows do create opportunities in the mountains.      

Northwest upslope snows occur in the mountains along the North Carolina-Tennessee border, far western Virginia, and eastern West Virginia.  They can produce amazing amounts of snow in the mountains while there is little or no snow in the valleys.

Upslope snows sometimes occur in conjunction with the moisture and wind produced on the back side of a storm.  Another source of moisture is the wind blowing over the Great Lakes of Michigan, Huron, and the west side of Lake Erie and travelling over 500 miles until it reaches the mountains.  

Stronger winds and winds that blow perpendicular to the mountain ridges create instability.  The wind closer to the ground slows down when it hits the mountains and then converges with the faster moving upstream air.  This decreases the stability of the atmosphere and enhances snow production. 

Last Tuesday I photographed along the Appalachian Trail in Elk Garden Gap near Whitetop Mountain in southwest Virginia.  There were only a few inches of snow in the valleys but along the AT in Elk Garden there was 18 inches.   It was 7 degrees with a -20 wind chill factor but incredibly beautiful.