BOONE N.C. -- It's been a rough winter in the mountains, something predicted months ago by an old legend and a furry insect.

Boone felt temperatures in the 50s for the first official day of spring. But hours from now, winter will return.

It's something some unconventional meteorologists predicted months ago.

One old legend says for every foggy morning in August, you put a bean in a jar. Each bean represents how many snowstorms you will have that winter. 

Kenneth Reece predicted 22 snowstorms this winter for the mountains, based on 22 foggy mornings.

So far, the area has had 18 snowstorms.

And though winter technically has ended, Reece says there's still time to reach 22.

“Here winter is never totally over until the end of April,” said Kenneth Reece, Valle Crucis. 

Another old prediction: Woolly worm races. The worm that makes it to the top of the string fastest gave a winter prediction.

The worm has 13 stripes for the 13 weeks of winter.

“[The prediction for this year from the worm was] very cold and lots of snow in the beginning of the winter and a middle spot where it was warm and then another cold spell,” said Jason DeWitt, the "Wooly Worm Dude."

The High Country's strongest snowstorms matched up to that prediction, so Dewitt says the prediction came pretty close to accuracy. 

“I don't want to say it was 100 percent accurate, but it was really close,” said DeWitt.