Sylva School Hurricanes

Seems odd to see a school mascot in the mountains with the name Hurricanes. But before Smoky Mountain High School Mustangs and before Sylva-Webster Golden Eagles, there were the Sylva Hurricanes. To explain the progression of Cullowhee would be just short of a novel. So we will save that for another time.

When you live in Western North Carolina, after a decade you realize nearly every single named storm that hits the United States finds its way through Southern Appalachia. I cannot recall hurricane intensity as storms move through but it is not out of the question to experience tropical storm force weather as they move through us. Of course you may know in the mountains we have lots of tree's and as the ground gets saturated and the wind increases....tree's fall

Late summer and early fall just happen to be the regions driest time of the year and we always seem to be praying fro rain in September...but not October. We never want rain when the fishing is good, but we want our streams to have a balanced amount of water for ideal conditions.

Now enters Hurricane Season. June through October and even a week into November marks the time of year where it is within reason to see storms move through. Sandy a named storm that struck the New England area so bad more than 10 years ago brought snow to the region on the backside with strong northwest flow.

All this to say, once again we have a strong storm with a Bullseye on the Gulf Coast of Florida that will in all likely hood have major impacts on our region. While tragedies are left in the path of these storms, they do play an important roll in the Southern Appalachian ecology. Our eco systems are stressed this time of year from heat and low water and even though it will be too much rain too fast, it helps bring balance.

Fishing conditions will not be ideal for a few days after the storm moves through, but the waters will recede and the fish will still be there. This is evidenced by the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout maneuvering this since the last ice age ended. When anglers come fish in the fall no one will remember the storms, their names, or their impacts, but the water they give us will be enjoyed.