The Appalachian Mountains that tower over East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia are hundreds of miles from the coast. But when hurricane season ramps up, residents in the region still need to pay attention.

That’s the message from Dr. Andrew Joyner, Tennessee’s official climatologist and a faculty member in the Department of Geosciences at East Tennessee State University.

“We may not get direct hits from hurricanes like coastal areas do,” said Joyner. “But the remnants of those storms can still bring serious impacts, especially when the season is active.”

And the season is, indeed, expected to be active.

Forecasters at Colorado State University are predicting an above-average number of storms for 2025. That follows a volatile 2024 season that saw numerous hurric

See Full Page