12 August 2022
Water Elevation 3120 feet
Big Cherry Lake of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
A beautiful, early Autumn-like day was finally experienced in wake of a long, stormy July and early August. This set the stage for a chilly night
as air temperatures dropped well down into the
40s within high valleys upstream of the lake.
( Large section - Allow Time To Load )
This was the coolest night since 20 June 2022, when temperatures dipped into the 30s in these high valleys.
12 August 2022
Elevation 3186 feet
Cold Air Pooling Area
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
A sea of pink swayed in the wind from the blossoms
of Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa), which extensively covered this portion of the wetland valley. This painted a beautiful scene beneath cotton-ball cumulus, whose dark bases were floating just above the basin floor.
12 August 2022
Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa)
My friend Jonathan Owens accompanied me on this trip and captured a nice macro-shot of these pink blossoms. Jonathan is a former television meteorologist, and for decades has been like my younger brother.
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cottony Cumulus Above Pink Spiraea
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
An array of Sphagnum (Sphagnum spp.) species, sedges, rushes, and many others, are punctuated by large clumps of Cinnamon (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) and Interrupted (Osmunda claytoniana) ferns.
12 August 2022
Cinnamon Ferns and Spiraea
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Large, beautiful and fertile Interrupted Ferns have grown large in the abundant moisture (even though, surprisingly, this has been to date the 2nd driest summer since 2008 in Big Cherry Lake basin and only the 13th wettest during that time).
12 August 2022
Fertile Interrupted Ferns
(Osmunda claytoniana)
Jonathan captured a really nice image with his phone (amazing how phone cameras have recently improved).
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cottony Cumulus Above Pink Spiraea
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Fraser Magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) is a relatively abundant tree within mid-upper elevations of the High Knob Massif, and is characteristic of wet climates in the southern-central Appalachians.
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Fraser Magnolia (Magnolia fraseri)
In Big Cherry Lake basin, and the High Knob Massif in general, Fraser Magnolia grows in association with numerous species of
northern hardwoods:
Striped Maple (Acer pennslyvanicum)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum)
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Mountain Holly (Ilex montana)
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra var. borealis)
Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides).
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cottony Cumulus Above Pink Spiraea
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Because this is a complex system, the northern aspect is also indicated by many other species
apart from just trees that must be recognized.
A few of these include birds and plants.
Northern Bird Species Present
Veery
(Catharus fuscescens)
Hermit Thrush
(Catharus guttatus)
(Catharus guttatus)
Brown Creeper
(Certhia americana)
(Certhia americana)
Least Flycatcher
(Empidonax minimus)
Dark-eyed Junco
(Junco hyemalis)
(Empidonax minimus)
Dark-eyed Junco
(Junco hyemalis)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
(Pheucticus ludovicianus)
Black-capped Chickadee
(Poecile atricapillus)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
(Setophaga caerulescens)
Black-capped Chickadee
(Poecile atricapillus)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
(Setophaga caerulescens)
Blackburnian Warbler
(Setophaga fusca)
(Setophaga fusca)
Magnolia Warbler
(Setophaga magnolia)
(Setophaga magnolia)
Black-throated Green Warbler
(Setophaga virens)
(Setophaga virens)
Chestnut-sided Warbler
(Setophaga pensylvanica)
Red-breasted Nuthatch
(Sitta canadensis)
(Sitta canadensis)
Winter Wren
(Troglodytes hiemalis)
Blue-headed Vireo
(Vireo solitarius)
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cottony Cumulus Above Pink Spiraea
Jonathan Owens Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Many species of northern flora present across the High Knob Massif and Big Cherry basin must also be considered.
A Few Northern Herbaceous Species
Wild Leek
(Allium tricoccum)
Dwarf Anemone
(Anemone quinquefolia var. minima)
Tall Milkweed
(Asclepias quadrifolia)
Two-leaved Toothwort
(Cardamine diphylla)
Roan Mountain Sedge
(Carex roanensis)
Evergreen Wood Fern
(Dryopteris intermedia)
Cow Parsnip
(Heracleum maximum)
Shining Firmoss
(Huperzia lucidula)
Canada Lily
(Lilium canadense var. editorum)
Turks-Cap Lily
(Lilium superbum)
Canada Mayflower
(Maianthemum canadense)
Mountain Wood-sorrel
(Oxalis montana)
Large-leaved Phlox
(Phlox amplifolia)
Red Elderberry
(Sambucus racemosa var. pubens)
Painted Trillium
(Trillium undulatum)
Sweet White Violet
(Viola blanda)
Yellow Halbred-leaved Violet
(Viola hastata)
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cottony Cumulus Above Pink Spiraea
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
A wondrous aspect of the High Knob Massif is that it is not all about northern and mesic species, with geologic and topographic settings embedded within this great mountain that support species with drier and more southern affinities.
Summer 2022
Little Stony Creek Basin
Bear Rock Heath Barren
Observe a series of cloud lines forming in a mountain
wave coming off the High Knob Massif (viewed above).
Bear Rock Heath Barren located in Little
Stony Creek Gorge is a classic example.
Summer 2022
Little Stony Creek Basin
Bear Rock Heath Barren
This exists even as the gorge itself is very mesic
in nature, being full of waterfalls and plunging
whitewater streams.
Summer 2022
Little Stony Creek Gorge
View From Bear Rock Heath Barren
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Precipitation Update
High Knob Massif
(Upper Elevations)
(Totals Listed By AM Measurement Format)
Monthly Total Precipitation
Big Cherry Lake Dam
(Elevation 3139 feet)
2019
January
6.14"
February
12.50"
Winter 2018-19
(1 Dec-29 Feb)
26.56"
March
5.93"
April
6.64"
May
6.75"
Spring 2019
(1 Mar-31 May)
19.32"
June
10.68"
July
10.77"
August
4.15"
Summer 2019
(1 Jun-31 Aug)
25.60"
September
0.63"
October
5.01"
( 5.89" to Midnight 31st )
November
5.20"
( 7.04" to Midnight 30th )
Autumn 2019
(1 Sep-31 Oct)
10.84"
December
8.52"
2019 Total: 82.92" (M)
(January 1 to December 31 Period)
2020
*January
7.15"
**February
13.01"
Winter 2019-20
(1 Dec-29 Feb)
28.68"
March
9.55"
( 10.77" to Midnight 31st )
April
11.59"
May
8.73"
(6.90" on Eagle Knob of High Knob Massif)
Spring 2020
(1 Mar-31 May)
29.87"
June
7.48"
July
9.72"
(10.48" to Midnight 31st)
August
8.12"
Summer 2020
(1 Jun-31 Aug)
25.32"
September
6.21"
October
7.06"
November
1.96"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 0.5")
Autumn 2020
(1 Sep-31 Oct)
15.23"
December
6.22"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 34.0")
2020 Total: 96.80" (M)
(January 1 to December 31 Period)
2021
January
6.35"
***(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 34.0")
February
7.42"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 19.5")
Winter 2020-21
(1 Dec to 28 Feb)
19.99"
(21.70" on Eagle Knob)
March
10.82"
(11.14" to Midnight 31st)
April
2.53"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 2.5")
May
4.54"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: Trace)
Spring 2021
(1 Mar-31 May)
17.89"
June
4.79"
July
5.55"
August
10.39"
Summer 2021
(1 June-31 August)
20.73"
September
5.82"
October
3.80"
November
2.23"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 1.5")
3 days with 1" or more depth
Autumn 2021
(1 Sep-30 Nov)
11.85"
December
4.63"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 1.0")
Several days with Trace depths
2021 Total: 68.87"
(January 1 to December 31 Period)
2022
January
8.74"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 40.0")
29 days with 1" or more depth
February
10.32"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 3.5")
14 days with 1" or more depth
Winter 2021-22
(1 Dec to 28 Feb)
23.69"
March
4.23"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 13.5")
8 days with 1" or more depth
April
3.28"
(Eagle Knob Snowfall: 9.0")
5 days with 1" or more depth
May
7.98"
Spring 2022
(1 Mar to 31 May)
15.49"
June
2.18"
July
9.80"
(11.06" through Midnight)
August
7.97"
Summer 2022
(1 Jun to 31 Aug)
19.95"
2022 Total: 54.50"
(January 1 to August 31 Period)
November 2019-October 2020: 102.34"
Autumn 2018 to Summer 2019: 91.21"
Autumn 2019 to Summer 2020: 94.44"
Autumn 2020 to Summer 2021: 73.84"
Autumn 2021 to Summer 2022: 70.98"
48-Month Annual Average: 82.62''
(Autumn 2018-Summer 2022)
(M): Some missing moisture in undercatch and frozen precipitation, with corrections applied for the 24.4 meter (80 feet) tall dam structure where rain gauges are located. Corrections are based upon 86-months of direct comparisons between NWS and IFLOWS at Big Cherry Dam (including occasional snow core-water content data).
Dry Spring to Wet Summer
12 August 2022
Big Cherry Lake of High Knob Massif
This beautiful blue water of Big Cherry Lake has been a notable feature this year, as I also illustrate below from a Southwings Flight on 15 March 2022 (thanks to pilot Rankin Whittington).
15 March 2022
Beautiful Blue Water
Big Cherry Lake of High Knob Massif
A drier than average spring trended much warmer and also wetter than average during May, but this increase in rainfall was not enough to prevent Spring 2022 from becoming the 5th driest on record in the area of Big Cherry Lake
(record period 2008-Present).
Meteorological Spring 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley (March-May)
Only seven nights dipped into the 30s during May in high valleys upstream of the lake, with no night at this recording site dropping to and below freezing (highly anomalous).
05 August 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Reflections Along The South Fork
Dryness returned during June which became
the 2nd driest on record at Big Cherry Lake since recording started in 2008 (15 years). The lake level dropped below the spillway during the second half of June and this trend continued until excessive rains boosted it to overflow into late July.
05 August 2022
Wetlands In Big Cherry Basin
While the lake level dropped, wetlands upstream of the lake continued to maintain their levels behind engineered beaver dams.
Elevation 3186 feet
Month of June 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
*The above location tends to not be as cold at night as a nearby site where bears tore down the sensor (I hope to get that running again before winter settles into the high country of Big Cherry Lake).
This site in Big Cherry is one of the warmest by day
in upper elevations, above 3000 feet, due to its open exposure to sunshine.
At night, by contrast, it is one of the coolest sites with
cold air pooling in the basin. If vegetation was not so thick on the basin floor and standing water not present, air temperatures at night would be significantly lower. Despite this fact, nights in Big Cherry are much cooler than in lower elevations such as the Tri-Cities in
the Great Valley (below for comparison).
Elevation 1519 feet
Month of June 2022
Tri-Cities In The Great Valley
While June featured numerous chilly nights, with temperatures dipping into the 30s as late as June 20, a surge of deep, tropical moisture gripped the mountain region into July with elevated humidity and dewpoints.
Month of July 2022
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
July 2022 featured the warmest nights in Big Cherry,
by far, than observed previously during the 2017-2021 period (no July night dropped below 50 degrees).
No July night in 2022 dropped below
63 degrees in the Tri-Cities (below).
Month of July 2022
Tri-Cities In The Great Valley
[Reviewing record periods for Burkes Garden, Wise,
and Tri-Cities all suggest that coolest mean night-time temperatures in Big Cherry would have been around 40 degrees in June and upper 40s in July, with frost and freezing conditions on coldest nights in both months].
Deadly Flood Event of July 2022
While 9.80" of rain (11.06" through midnight 31 July) fell at Big Cherry Lake, this area actually missed the bulk of excessive July rains.
July concluded as the 3rd wettest on record at
Big Cherry Dam during the 2008-Present period.
25-30 July 2022
Doppler Estimated Rainfall
Courtesy of JKL NWSFO
Nearby locations within the High Knob Massif and toward the north received up to 15.00" or more of total rainfall (marking the wettest July and month on record in numerous places).
A general 17.00" to 18.00" of July rain fell across the Town of Wise to crush all previous records for both July and the wettest month of all-time.
*The previous wettest July officially measured in
Wise was July 1956 with 11.07" of total rainfall.
**The previous wettest month officially measured
in Wise was June 1989 with 11.61" of total rainfall.
July 2022 Rain Totals
Destructive, deadly flooding of historic nature occurred along and northwest of Pine Mountain into the overnight hours of 28 July 2022.
A night of pure terror.
The North Fork of Kentucky River, which heads along Pine Mountain in Letcher County, reached all-time record levels during July 2022.
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There have been many other deadly floods,
as exemplified by the following example from
July 1939 courtesy of JKL NWSFO:
Nocturnal Temperatures 2022
(January-July Monthly Mean Night-time Temps)
Mean Monthly Minimums
High Basins Versus Great Valley Control
The way to read this chart is as follows.
The mean night-time minimum in Big Cherry during March was approximately the same as the mean night-time low observed in Kingsport during January. The average nightly low during June in Big Cherry was the same as recorded in Kingsport during mid-April.
A look at mean nocturnal minimum temperatures observed so far this year illustrates a typically large spread between the high mountain basins and the Great Valley (used as a control site).
This upward trend is now beginning to head downward in the other direction, and will be followed through the remainder of 2022.
For more information regarding these
mountain basins, please reference
the following section:
First Signs of Autumn
19 August 2022
City of Norton Outdoor Festival
Flag Rock Recreation Area Sunset
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Thunderstorms with heavy rainfall developed during late afternoon of 19 August over the high country of the High Knob Massif, with heaviest rains missing the Flag Rock Recreation Area.
This was good fortune, indeed, with herpetologist Wally Smith and mycologist Adam Boring leading hikes during this time as part of Norton's Annual Outdoor Festival.
20 August 2022
High Knob Lake Dam
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
A significant overflow of High Knob Lake Dam was observed feeding the Mountain Fork of Big Stony Creek from recent rainfall on 20 August 2022.
This overflow increased dramatically into 21 August with a solid curtain of water flowing across the Dam.
Outside of the many colorful fungi that Adam Boring found during a morning hike on 20 August 2020, preliminary signs of the season ahead were also observed in the high basin of High Knob Lake (likewise, these signs are now appearing in the high basin of Big Cherry Lake).
20 August 2022
Early Signs of the Autumn Season
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Coolest recent temperatures dropped into
the low-mid 40s in Big Cherry Lake basin.
20 August 2022
High Knob Lake Elevation 3500 feet
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Although the heavens threatend to burst open, this 4.0 mile hike from the Lookout to below High Knob Lake Dam was completed without getting wet from rain (humidity was abundant as was sweat).
20 August 2022
High Knob Lake Cove
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Night-time hours of 21 August found the heavens burst, with another round of heavy rain across the high country (boosting the August total to over 7.00" in wetter locations).
Although Doppler estimated max amounts of around 3.00" for this 3-day period, actual rainfall totals were in excess of this from Big Cherry Lake to east-southeast of High Knob Lake.
(72-Hour Estimated)
12:00 Noon on 21 August 2022
Doppler Radar Estimated Rainfall
The level of Big Stony Creek increased
by 1-2 vertical feet into the afternoon
hours of 21 August 2022.
20 August 2022
High Knob Lake of High Knob Massif
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
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