High winds, bitter cold cancel WRAL Nights of Lights, other outdoor activities

WRAL Nights of Lights, the drive-through holiday lights experience at Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Park, will be canceled on Friday night, Dec. 23, due to wind damage along the route and the forecast for high winds and bitter cold.

Posted 9:30 p.m. Dec 22, 2022 — Updated 8:14 p.m. Dec 23, 2022

Mark Bergin

, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

BEECH MOUNTAIN, N.C. — WRAL Nights of Lights, the drive-through holiday lights experience at Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Park, will be canceled on Friday night, Dec. 23, due to wind damage along the route and the forecast for high winds and bitter cold.

Those with advance tickets were alerted by email and will automatically get their money back.

WRAL and the City of Raleigh, sponsors of WRAL Nights of Lights, will assess any further damage and the forecast before deciding whether the event will go on for Christmas Eve. A decision will be made by noon Saturday.

In Cary, the annual North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheatre will also be closed on Friday. It reopens to the public on Christmas Eve from 6 to 9 p.m., but stage performances have been canceled for the safety of the performers.

Bitter winds close Grandfather Mountain

Grandfather Mountain will be closed to visitors on Friday after monitors at the top measured a wind chill of -40 degrees. The air temperature on the mountain was also below zero.

On Christmas Eve, weather permitting, Grandfather Mountain will open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the last entry at 2 p.m. and trails closing at 3 p.m. Grandfather Mountain is closed on Christmas for the holiday.

Too cold to ski at Beech Mountain

The Beech Mountain Ski Resort is closing its slopes Friday and Saturday due to forecasted cold temperatures and high winds.

The weather conditions will create dangerous conditions on the slopes, according to the resort’s Facebook post.

Beech Mountain’s plan is to reopen at 1 p.m. on Christmas Day.

All customers who purchased a slope ticket, childcare, Traxx or Burton Learn to Ride programs will be refunded, according to Beech Mountain.

The National Weather Service has a high wind warning in effect from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday for the area. West winds will fluctuate from 20-30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.

In the next 48 hours, snowmaking efforts will concentrate on Beech Mountain’s Upper Southern Star and Upper White Lightning black diamond runs to get the mountain's front side ready to open as soon as possible.

Tubing, Beech Mountain Brewing Co., and Ski Beech Sports will operate on a regular schedule. Events, including Santa and live music with Shelby Rae Moore, are on schedule.

The Sugar Mountain Ski Resort is not planning to close. However, if Sugar Mountain does close, a decision would be made Friday morning on its website.

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