Raleigh, N.C. — The outer reaches of Hurricane Sandy were felt even in the North Carolina mountains Monday, where snow flakes were falling in Boone at 8 a.m. A combination of rain, snow and temperatures that will not get out of the 30s will make for a miserable couple of days for the far north and west reaches of the state.

WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel forecast up to 4 inches of snow for the area through Tuesday.

"The scary thing about this storm is that is such a huge storm in terms of size and how many people it will impact," Fishel said.

At 8 a.m. Monday, Sandy was packing 75 mph winds, and had made the expected turn to the west.  The storm is expected to make landfall somewhere along the New Jersey coast late Monday or early Tuesday, then continue inland as far as the Great Lakes. More Info     Interactive: Sandy expected to make landfall late Monday

The weather extremes were multiplied Monday morning for those in the West Marion and Morganton areas who felt an earthquake.  

The wrap-around moisture from the large hurricane will give North Carolina alternating periods of dry sunshine and rainy clouds on Monday with the heaviest rain soaking northeastern coastal counties.

Residents of the Triangle woke to a steady, light  rain and should not expect to see completely clear skies until much later in the week, said WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner.

"More people are walking up to rain this morning and cold temperatures. No more shorts and T-shirts for the rest of this week,” she said.

Monday will still be blustery in the Triangle, with winds gusting to 30 and 40 mph at times.

Cold will settle in over the Triangle this week as central and eastern North Carolina dry out from Sandy.

The high will be around 46 degrees on Tuesday and 55 degrees Wednesday. Overnight lows both days will be in the 30s.

"It's going to be very chilly for the trick-or-treaters," WRAL metereologist Aimee Wilmoth said.

 By next weekend, the mercury will creep back into the mid 60s under sunny skies.