Winter Comes While I'm Gone

While away, Asheville got six inches of snow and the hills around the house were white.  The winds were ferocious, limbs everywhere, some fencing down.  Well, that happened again last night making it hard to sleep, even for the dogs.  My neighbor said this is the norm here, being in this valley with the winds coming down the mountains.  Not looking forward to winter is all I can say.  That's one question you don't ask your realtor, how are the winds? If it weren't for all the huge trees surrounding the house, it wouldn't bother me as much, but having had a tree come through a skylight into my kitchen in Georgia, I get nervous. I would have thought the opposite being in a valley, the mountains should shelter us from the winds.  We are in what's called a "thermal belt" and it's warmer down in the valley, so I guess I need to read up on why we get these winds.  Always something!