While cold weather can deter some visitors from walking through downtown Gatlinburg, a city representative said if there was a time for a spring cold-spell to hit, this is it.
"The cold weather was almost shocking to us because we thought we were over this," said Jim Davis with the City of Gatlinburg.
Snow and frost can be seen Monday on mountaintops in Sevier County. This followed an East Coast trend, when a nor'easter hit the Mid Atlantic. East Tennessee was not hit by the storm itself, but still saw below average temperatures.
As a result, fewer people were on the streets, exploring the sights of this popular East Tennessee tourism spot.
"It's been slow; it's been slow for the last few days actually. But
we're in this slow period right now," said Sanjay Dodani, a downtown
Gatlinburg clothing store owner.
Davis said the timing of this storm is not all bad for the area.
"Spring break happened the last couple weeks in March and first couple of weeks in April. Brought in a lot of people, lots of families. Then it drops in April," he added.
The mayor of Pigeon Forge told they too see similar results, with the tourism season beginning to pick up again in mid-May.