Tennessee During Winter Months

marshbrian68 · 07-31-2016, 08:58 PM

I was hoping/thinking about spending the winter months in Tennessee. Does anyone know if this is possible? Does it get too cold to where I can't have running water? I don't have a specific area in mind, only one that will allow me to do this. Running water and sewer is essential.

**dcheatwood** · 07-31-2016, 10:02 PM

I've gone to pigeon forge, Gatlinburg area several times in the fall and it's great. Going again in Oct this year. Spent week between Christmas and new years there once in a cabin and it snowed quite a bit. Was below freezing at night.
Hopefully someone with winter RV experience there will chime in for you.

CaptnJohn · 07-31-2016, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I've gone to pigeon forge, Gatlinburg area several times in the fall and it's great. Going again in Oct this year. Spent week between Christmas and new years there once in a cabin and it snowed quite a bit. Was below freezing at night.
Hopefully someone with winter RV experience there will chime in for you.

We are going to Gatlinburg in October also. Which CG do you prefer? Would not go there in winter, we winter in Florida. It would be more comfortable at home in SE Coastal NC than TN during winter.

emm-dee · 07-31-2016, 10:49 PM

Upper east TN can get really cold and freezing will happen.

gspot01 · 07-31-2016, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshbrian68

I was hoping/thinking about spending the winter months in Tennessee. Does anyone know if this is possible? Does it get too cold to where I can't have running water? I don't have a specific area in mind, only one that will allow me to do this. Running water and sewer is essential.

I live 60 miles northwest of Memphis in NE Arkansas--pretty much same latitude and climate as most of TN. You will definitely have periods of freezing weather. We usually get 2-4 winter storms per year that could include some combination of ice, snow, or sleet that last a few days to a week each.

There are also a couple of spells where, although sunny, the high won't get above freezing for several days at a time. Most nights Dec 1-Mar 1 will be below freezing. Places with some elevation like the Ozarks and Appalachians will be slightly colder.

Then there are always the couple weeks that are warm (70s during Christmas). Some weeks you'd be fine, others there's no way you'd have running water. I'd definitely say not in Jan and Feb. Even northern Mississippi and Alabama where I grew up will have periods of freezing weather/snow/ice where you wouldn't have running water, although less frequent.

About the only place you can bet on temps above freezing most of the winter is the Gulf coastal plain: LA, southern MS, AL, GA and FL, although it's not unheard of. I'd draw a line that extends from Shreveport, LA, straight across to Savannah, GA, and stay below that to maximize your chances.

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tort1305 · 08-01-2016, 01:03 PM

It all depends on where in Tennessee. If you are visiting the Smoky Mountains (Gatlinburg, Pidgeon Forge, Sevierville), you should expect snow and colder temps as you will be at higher elevation. Going further west (Nashville or Memphis) will give you a much better chance of the temps staying above freezing.

conceptumator · 08-01-2016, 01:08 PM

Lived in TN for three years and our daughter lives there now so we're frequent visitors. I can tell you we've spent Christmas week in the RV outside Nashville and it was cold enough the campground would shut of the water if you were gone. We saw temps down to zero and just below in Nashville and as cold as -20F in upper East Tennessee. Of course, we saw temps in the teens first of November a couple of years ago in Nashville, too. Just figure it WILL be cold!

BooBoo23 · 08-01-2016, 01:20 PM

X2 on what gspot101 said. I live on the west side of Atlanta and we get occasional snow, most of the time is only 1-2". We also get freezing weather although not for any extended period of time, maybe a couple days off and on. The line that gspot mentioned is pretty accurate. It can still freeze in the panhandle of Florida a few times during the winter. No way will you be able to have running water in Tennessee in the dead of winter unless you have heat traced water lines and heated underbelly. All of the state parks close in winter.

SternHappens · 08-01-2016, 01:53 PM

I live in Sevier County, home to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. There are quite a few folks living full time in their campers here. Some campgrounds do close, but there are several open year round. You'll need a heated water hose to keep your line from freezing and a lot of the full timers will put up some sort of foam type board insulation around the base of their units. I would think keeping your unit warm and keeping the fresh tank full just in case the campground water gets shut down for a few days and you should be fine. I'm sure if you got to your location and settled in you could get lot's of advice from those already set up. I don't know when you are planning to head to TN but I wouldn't wait much past mid-late November, to allow time to set up and prepare before any hard freezes come along.

glb6 · 08-01-2016, 02:18 PM

We are going to Pigeon forge in October for a week and staying at KOA. We bought our camper in May and are still newbies.

**dcheatwood** · 08-01-2016, 04:32 PM

CaptJohn , I sent you a pm with cg info.

youroo · 08-01-2016, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshbrian68

I was hoping/thinking about spending the winter months in Tennessee. Does anyone know if this is possible? Does it get too cold to where I can't have running water? I don't have a specific area in mind, only one that will allow me to do this. Running water and sewer is essential.

There is even a need to Prep.for Freezing waterlines in North Fla. so don't feel Home Free in Tennessee!

Youroo!!

pdqparalegal1 · 08-01-2016, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

We are going to Gatlinburg in October also. Which CG do you prefer? Would not go there in winter, we winter in Florida. It would be more comfortable at home in SE Coastal NC than TN during winter.

Why would anyone from beautiful Ocean Isle winter in the swamp called Florida?? Sent from Oak Island

nemoneymeiyer · 08-01-2016, 07:28 PM

We stayed in Dayton Tenn at Bluewater Campground Resort and Marina. While there they had campers that lived there through the winter. It does get cold there, some campers used insulated drinking hoses that were heated to keep water running. We were there March 1-15, 2014 and morning temperatures were mid twenties highs were around fifty. The resort store closes for part of the winter season but opened about the time we arrived. The staff and resort were super and we went back and stayed spring of 2015 while finding our home in nearby Pikeville Tenn. Recommend this resort to all. Enjoy

CaptnJohn · 08-01-2016, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdqparalegal1

Why would anyone from beautiful Ocean Isle winter in the swamp called Florida?? Sent from Oak Island

No snow here in winter but it does get exceptionally cool. I'd rather have AC on than heat so a couple months in FL helps. It does sound strange considering many winter here from up north.

ternshar · 08-03-2016, 11:26 AM

Word on the street is the freeze line is north of Interstate 4 in Florida. We live in Tennessee and go below I 4 in Florida.

conceptumator · 08-03-2016, 11:37 AM

Freeze line in Florida is north of I-4? Whoever came up with that one obviously doesn't live in Florida or ever spent much time down here. Contrary to the typical interstate numbering, I-4 doesn't exactly run E-W like other even numbered roadways. It runs sort of diagonally, but more N-S as it starts in Tampa on the SW side of the state and ends just outside Daytona Beach on the NE side of the state.If you wanted to pick a freeze line in Florida, I'd have to tell you to figure about 75 miles or so south of the line made by I-10. Here in Orlando we get about 1 or 2 days a year where it drops to 32F (just barely); we don't even winterize our RV and it's parked in the driveway.

spock123 · 08-06-2016, 05:01 PM

I have stayed in Pigeon Forge Christmas and after New Year and it did get cold but what I did was unhook my water hose for the night and put the hose in the basement. It's not super cold and we had a good time. There is not a lot of people in the campground. We have stayed there at Thanksgiving and again few people in campground. We came close to running out of propane, not good as most places were closed

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marshbrian68 · 08-06-2016, 06:35 PM

What did you do about sewer hookup during the time you are there? I would either unhook water or use a heated hose, but sewer is still a concern. And what about the campground, do they turn off the water to where it can't be used during certain times.

spock123 · 08-06-2016, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshbrian68

What did you do about sewer hookup during the time you are there? I would either unhook water or use a heated hose, but sewer is still a concern. And what about the campground, do they turn off the water to where it can't be used during certain times.

The sewer was not a problem as there is no water in the hose. The campground did not turn off the water but we were told to have a heated hose or disconnect the hose because if your water hose froze and the water line froze then you were responsible. We just filled up our fresh water tank. There is only water in the sewer hose when we dump, one time the dump valves froze but thawed them out with DW hair dryer. From then on we just made sure we dumped the day before we left if it was going to freeze that night.

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