Daily Weather Briefing for Friday, March 3, 2017

NATIONAL OVERVIEW

...Heavy snow possible over the Northern Cascades...

...Heavy rain and flash flooding possible across south Texas this weekend...

A low pressure system will continue to move inland across British Columbia today, pulling a cold front across much of the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West, Northern California and Northern Rockies through the weekend. Nearly continuous onshore flow will keep rain over the coastal areas of Washington, Oregon, and eventually northern California-- with snow, likely heavy at times, expected to spread from the Cascades and eastward during this time. Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings are currently in effect for the Coastal Range where snow accumulations in in excess of a foot are possible through this evening. Winter Storm Watches are also in effect for much of northern California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Saturday afternoon through at least Sunday evening.

The remnants of a weak clipper system will continue to move through New England today, bringing the potential for scattered light snow showers across portions of the northern Appalachians, northern Mid Atlantic, and the Northeast during this time. Areas downwind of the Great Lakes may also see snow showers today, lingering into the overnight.

A surge of warm, moist air will flow inland from the Gulf of Mexico on the backside of a departing low Saturday. This will lead to rain showers developing across Southern Texas tonight, and spreading across the Lower Mississippi Valley throughout the day Saturday. South Texas could have significant rainfall totals and/or high rainfall rates that may lead to flash flooding. A slight risk for excessive rainfall is in effect for this area during the day Saturday. Please refer to the WPC excessive rainfall outlook for additional information on the threat for flash flooding.

LOCAL NEWS

A couple of rounds of severe thunderstorms passed through Macon County late Wednesday afternoon, leaving numerous trees and power

lines down. As of 4:00 am, 784 Duke Energy has restored to service to all but one customer in Macon County. That restoration is expected to be completed by 6:30 am.

Haywood EMC reports no outages to their customers in Macon County.



LOCAL OUTLOOK

Cool high pressure will build into the area through the end of the work week, briefly bringing temperatures near to below normal. Warming will occur early next week before another cold front increases rain chances around midweek.

DAY SPONSOR

Carrion Tree Service is underwriting the daily weather briefing and public safety updates for today. they are a fully licensed and insured tree service, specializing in dangerous tree removal, view clearing, pruning, and crane services with a 24 Hour emergency response.

Their phone number is 371-4718. They are located at 120 Depot Street.

They can handle all your tree removal needs in good or bad weather.

THREE DAY OUTLOOK




TODAY

Sunny with temperatures starting out near 30 and reaching the upper 40s to perhaps 50 in the afternoon, but wind chills will keep it feeling like it is closer to 40 than 50, and dipping to the upper 30s by 6 pm. Winds will be out of the northwest calm in the morning, then rising to 10 to 15 mph from the northwest between 10 am and 5 pm. Gusts will be in the 20 to 25 mph range. Relative humidity levels will dip below 30% this afternoon, allowing burnable material to rapidly dry out, so combined with the high winds, outdoor burning is not recommended.

TONIGHT
Mostly clear with temperatures in the upper 30s at 6 pm and sliding down to the mid 20s by 6 am. Areas of frost are expected. Winds will calm after sunset from around 5 to 7 mph out of the northwest by 6 am.




SATURDAY

Sunny with highs near the mid 50s and calm winds. Relative humidity levels will be below 30% for most of the day. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows near 30. Areas of frost may develop after 5 am.




SUNDAY

Mostly sunny with highs near 60.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows near the upper 30s.


HAZARDS


Hazardous weather is not expected today.

**UPDATE** 7:35 am

The National Weather Service has issued a Special Weather Statement regarding the low humidity and highs combining to cause an increased fire danger this afternoon. Outdoor burning is not recommended today, and conditions are not going to improve tomorrow, so don't be burning brush piles or debris outdoors this weekend. Wait a few days or seek out ways to get rid of the material without burning it.

The text of the Special Weather Statement is posted below for your convenience:

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
733 AM EST Fri Mar 3 2017

...INCREASED FIRE DANGER FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EST THIS EVENING...

Strong high pressure will begin to build across the region Friday and bring lower dewpoints and low-end gusty winds across the Western Carolinas and Northeast Georgia. Relative Humidity values will drop to 25 percent or less during the afternoon while surface winds gust to 15 to 25 mph...with higher gusts across the mountains of North Carolina. Fuel moisture levels will continue to drop in good evaporative conditions...thus an increased risk of fire danger will develop early in the afternoon and continue into the early evening.


As always, you can check to see what advisories, watches and warnings are in effect for Macon County by visiting http://is.gd/MACONWARN


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Published at 4:35 am on March 03, 2017

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