The woolly worm is the caterpillar stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth. Longtime festival fans say the woolly worm has about an 80–85 percent accuracy rate with its annual predictions. Whichever worm emerges as race champion has its colors closely examined, with the region’s winter weather forecast hanging in the balance. Light brown segments predict a mild week of winter and dark black segments mean cold, snowy periods. Woolly worms have 13 segments, which are said to correspond to the 13 weeks of winter. The worm earns the forecasting rights by winning a series of races. The tradition evolved into the annual “crowning” of a woolly worm to be the official predictor of the severity of winter during a festival in October. Morton immediately knew he needed to find some way to determine which worm would forecast. After photographing a woolly worm for the story, he noticed a second woolly worm that looked completely different. In the 1970s, Mountain Living Magazine editor Jim Morton was preparing a woolly worm forecast for the winter issue of the magazine. The fanfare for the little critters begs the question, what are woolly worms and why have they become such celebrities? They’ll watch the woolly worms race and see the fuzzy black and brown creatures on all manner of merchandise and signage on the festival grounds. 17 for the 44th annual Woolly Worm Festival. Thousands of visitors will make their way to Banner Elk on Saturday, Oct.
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