High winds are rattling the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, leading to closures

Roads and campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were closed to visitors ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as hurricane-force winds swept through East Tennessee, park officials said.

Firefighters in the small mountain hamlet of Townsend began voluntary evacuations around 3 a.m. Tuesday after gusts of wind fueled a wildfire on Rich Mountain Gap around a popular hiking trail in the park, about five miles outside of town.

A “red flag” warning was also in effect for the Smokies, meaning low humidity and high winds brought an increased risk of fire danger.

The Rich Mountain wildfire, which quickly spread through six acres of forest, was 25 percent contained as of Tuesday afternoon and the evacuation order had been lifted in Townsend, according to Emily Davis, a park spokeswoman. Weather conditions had improved slightly, enough for crews to assess any damage to roads and campgrounds that the National Park Service closed Monday, she said.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a wilderness area of ​​approximately 520,000 hectares, lies on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. The landscape is dominated by lush forests and year-round wildflowers.

The week of Thanksgiving is a popular time for visitors, Ms. Davis said. About a tenth of the park’s 11.5 million visitors in 2022 came in November, park data show.

“The safety of employees and visitors is our sole priority,” park superintendent Cassius Cash said in a statement. “We understand that these closures will cause inconvenience, but we are working to eliminate as many risks as possible during these dangerous weather conditions.”

The road closures include a portion of US 441, a scenic two-lane highway that winds through the Smoky Mountains from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to Cherokee, NC.

A National Weather Service advisory for Gatlinburg, just outside the park, reported sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, with gusts up to 85 miles per hour. The advisory predicted that the high winds would “down trees and power lines” and cause “widespread power outages.”

Temporary closures due to wind, fire and flooding have become common across the national park system as climate change brings more extreme weather events.

High wind warnings have increased sharply in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in recent years, from 22 warnings in 2006 to 48 warnings in 2022, according to the National Park Service.