VALLE CRUCIS, N.C. — It may be August, but for many in the mountains, it's time to think about the winter. They do that by counting the beans.

What You Need To Know

  • It's time to count the beans in the mountains to tell how many snowstorms will come

  • For every foggy morning in August, a bean is added

  • For every snow — and it must be more than a dusting — a bean is removed. One resident says the numbers usually come out pretty close

​Seth Powell has worked at the Mast General Store for 24 years.

"When I was 14, my parents decided I needed to look into a job and at the time my grandfather was working here," Powell said.

He was drawn to the store's uniqueness. 

"Their quote was from cradles to caskets back in the day, and they seriously sold all that. We try to keep the same tradition," Powell said.

There are 11 Mast General Stores now, but the store in Valle Crucis was the first. It is located in the heart of Valle Crucis and has everything from a post office to food.

"We cut keys, sodas. We got local snacks. We have a lot of older brands that people say, 'I haven't seen that in 30 years,'" Powell said.

People come to sit by the potbelly stove and play checkers. They can get it all here, he says, including the weather.

"It goes with the heritage and history of it," Powell said.

They are known to count the beans. A former employee started doing it decades ago. As the folklore goes, it depends on a foggy morning in August. Every morning Powell goes outside.

"Make sure it's a thick fog, low. If you can't see that way within 50 yards, we consider it a heavy fog. If it's just a mist, we don't really count it as a fog," Powell said.

The fog must go all the way to the ground to count. If it does, then a bean goes in the jar. Each bean symbolizes a snowstorm that the mountains will see this year.

"Last year we had a total of 20 fogs in August, and I think we had 18 or 19 decent snows, enough so that it's pretty close," Powell said. "When the ground is covered, a true snow. A dusting here and there we don't always count, and if it's a three-day event, that only counts as one bean technically."