Daily Weather Briefing for Wednesday, April 18, 2018

LOCAL OUTLOOK

Temperatures will warm once again through midweek, but then another cold front will move through the area on Wednesday night, bringing a chance of rain to the mountains. Dry and seasonal conditions are expected for the end of the week.


WEATHER SPONSOR



Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.

Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC. Visit our Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC/

All your masonry needs are available. Our phone number is 828.524.8545, the public is welcome, we’ll help with your with your next project.





Weather Almanac for April 18th (1872-2016)

Record weather events for this date in Macon County

Highest Temperature 89°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1955
Lowest Temperature 21°F in Highlands 1903
Greatest Rainfall 3.07 inches in Highlands in 1924
Greatest One-Day Snowfall (no snowfall has been recorded on this date since record keeping began in 1872)

Record Weather Events for April (1872-2017)

Highest Temperature 91°F in Franklin on April 26, 1986
Lowest Temperature 13°F in Highlands on April 1, 1987
Greatest Rainfall 7.00 inches in Highlands on April 7, 1895
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 9.5 inches in Franklin on April 4, 1987



THREE DAY OUTLOOK

The images below represent the daily forecast at 8 am for today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Click on any of them to enlarge.




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FRANKLIN AREA

TODAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Sunny skies with highs in the mid-70s. Winds 5 to 15 mph out of the southwest with gusts into the 20 to 25 mph range. Winds will peak between 2 pm and 8 pm and humidity levels will drop to near 30% during the same time frame. Outdoor burning is not recommended today.

TONIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows in the mid-40s and winds 5 to 10 mph out of the west. Rain chances will be near 30% between 11 pm and 4 am. Less than a tenth of an inch rainfall is expected.

THURSDAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Partly sunny with increasing clouds and highs near 60. Winds 10 to 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts up to 25 mph at times. Relative humidity levels will drop to near 30% and winds will peak between 9 am and 9 pm. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near freezing. Winds 5 to 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 25 mph at times.

FRIDAY

Sunny with highs near the mid-60s.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near the mid-30s.

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OTTO AREA

TODAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Sunny and breezy with highs in the mid-70s. Winds 5 to 15 mph out of the southwest with gusts in the 20 mph range. Relative humidity levels will drop near 30% between noon and 5 pm and winds will peak between 8 am and 6 pm. Outdoor burning is not recommended today.


TONIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows near the mid-40s. Winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts near 20 mph.

THURSDAY

Mostly sunny skies and breezy with highs near 60. Winds 10 to 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 25 mph. Relative humidity levels will drop to near 30% between 2 pm and 6 pm and winds will peak between 8 am and 6 pm. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear skies with lows near freezing. Winds 5 to 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 25 mph at times.

FRIDAY

Sunny with highs near the mid-to-upper 60s.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near the mid-to-upper 30s.

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HIGHLANDS AREA

TODAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Sunny with highs in the upper 60s. Winds 15 to 20 mph out of the southwest with gusts near 30 mph.

TONIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows near 40. Winds 15 to 20 mph out of the west with gusts near 30 mph.

THURSDAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Sunny and windy with highs near 50. Winds 20 to 25 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 40 mph.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near freezing and wind chill values dropping into the 20s. Winds 10 to 20 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 35 mph.

FRIDAY

Sunny with highs in the mid-to-upper 50s.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows in the mid-30s.

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NANTAHALA AREA

TODAY (Outdoor Burning Not Recommended)

Sunny and windy with highs in the lower 70s. Winds 10 to 20 mph out of the west with gust near 30 mph. Relative humidity levels will drop to near 30% in the afternoon and winds will peak between 11 am and 10 pm. Outdoor burning is not recommended for the next several days.

TONIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows near 40. Winds 15 to 20 mph out of the southwest with gusts near 25 mph. 30% chance of rain between 11 pm and 3 am with less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall expected.

THURSDAY

Mostly sunny with windy with highs in the lower 50s. Winds 10 to 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts near 25 mph. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near freezing and wind chill values in the 20s. Winds 5 to 15 mph out of the north and gusts near 25 mph.

FRIDAY

Sunny with highs near 60.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near the mid-to-upper 30s.

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GOES 16 GeoColor - True Color daytime, multispectral IR at night
12:47 am to 3:42 am this morning


HAZARDS (Increased Fire Danger)

Due to a combination of high winds and humidity levels that will drop below 30% today and tomorrow, outdoor burning is not recommended. Any fires that get out of control will be in danger of spreading very rapidly.

The National Weather Service has issued a Special Weather Statement regarding the increased fire danger due to low humidity and high winds and a copy has been posted below for your convenience.

***Special Weather Statement***
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
337 PM EDT Tue Apr 17 2018



...INCREASED FIRE DANGER FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING...

Strong, breezy southwesterly winds with gusts of 25 to 35 mph, combined with relative humidity levels dipping as low as 25 to 30 percent will create elevated fire danger conditions on Wednesday across areas of the Piedmont and western North Carolina. Similar conditions are expected on Thursday as well.

Please refer to your local burn permitting authorities on whether you can burn today. If you do burn, you are advised to use extreme caution.

Macon Media maintains a Severe Weather Preparedness Page at http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com/p/breaking-news-hub.html for those who are interested.

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



3:42 am this morning



MACON CALENDAR

If you have an event you wish to be added to this calendar, please send the information, along with a flyer in pdf format or a high-quality photo, to editor@maconmedia.com. If you want text published, please include a paragraph with your photo, flyer or graphics. Please include date(s) and time(s).
There is no charge for civic, educational or nonprofit groups, except for groups or events that receive funding from the TDA, TDC, and EDC, where full rates apply.

FRANKLIN BIRD CLUB

Wednesday, April 18th at 8am
Bird walk along the Greenway. Meet at Salali Lane at 8:00 am.
First walk of the year at Salali!
(Parking is off Fox Ridge Road which is just south of Franklin Flea Market on Highlands Rd.)

REVIVAL TO START WITH COVERED DISH SUPPER
Patton United Methodist Church, 119 Patton Church Road Franklin, will be starting their Revival this Sunday the 22nd at 6.30pm, with a covered dish supper beforehand at 5.30pm.
Pastor Dugar Strickland from Maysville Methodist Church in Maysville, GA will be leading their Revival. It will continue on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7pm.


OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

I am writing to thank the residents of Franklin, Highlands, and Macon County for spreading joy to children around the world this Christmas. Through the generosity of the Macon County community, 4,636 shoeboxes were collected; and the Western North Carolina Area Team was able to exceed our goal by collecting 20,038 shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind. The International total for 2017 was 11,012,840 shoeboxes!

As National Volunteer Week (April 15 – 21) approaches, I wanted to pass along information about an opportunity for Macon County residents to join a local volunteer team with Operation Christmas Child. This project of the international Christian relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse, sends gift-filled shoeboxes to millions of children in need each year and gives local residents the opportunity to make a worldwide impact. “National Volunteer Week is a great time to become a part of this international project,” said June Trull, who heads up the Western North Carolina Area Team of Operation Christmas Child.“Joining an Operation Christmas Child Area Team is an amazing way to give back year-round and share God’s love with children in need.”



Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 157 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries since 1993. This year, the local Western North Carolina Area Team hopes to collect 21,000 shoebox gifts to contribute to the 2018 global goal of reaching more than 11 million children in need.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Thank You
Brenda Hackett
Samaritan's Purse
Media Support
Western North Carolina Area Team
Operation Christmas Child
828-369-6674/ bjandhack@hotmail.com
samaritanspurse.org/occnewsroom



COMMUNITY WALK ON THE GREENWAY

The Friends of the Greenway invites the community to participate in a "Walk on the Greenway" on April 21, 2018 at 10:30 AM beginning at the Macon County Library (on Siler Rd). Sunny Himes will lead about a 2 mile walk, highlighting several natural communities including a Red Cedar-Hardwood Woodland, Montane Alluvial Forest, and Floodplain wetlands. Discussion points will be historic and current uses of the land around the Greenway, how these uses shaped today's terrain and plant community compositions, and the challenges of wildland restoration in a popular urban park. Ms. Himes is a lecturer at Western Carolina University in botany, ecology and introduction biology. She is a past FROG Board member and continues to manage restoration projects on the Greenway. A $5 donation is suggested for this benefit walk. Send email of your interest in participating on the walk to: frog28734@gmail.com.




From Bully to Buddy, A Community Forum
Please note this forum is now taking place on the 26th of April

Bullying affects us all in different ways. Let’s work this out together.
Sincere invitations to the bully, the bullied and those in between — all ages — all genders Featuring: interaction, role playing, dialogue, discovery and direction (and some fun!)

This forum will be taking place on Wednesday, April 26 at 6 PM - 8 PM
pin in Tartan Hall at First Presbyterian Church, 26 Church Street, Franklin, NC

Join the event page on Facebook to find out more and to receive updates. [LINK]


Series of Dementia Workshops Coming in March and April

A campaign to tackle the stigma and lack of understanding around dementia is underway in Macon County with the support of area churches, the Southwestern Commission Area Agency on Aging, Macon County Public Library, Angel Medical, Macon County Senior Services, and Macon County DSS.

Hickory Knoll United Methodist Church has partnered with a growing list of area churches throughout Macon County to host a workshop series, ‘Dementia Friends NC’ beginning on Tuesdays, March 20, 2018. Designed to help build awareness about dementia and identify ways local citizens can help people who are living with it in our community, the four-session workshop series is being made possible through a Missional Engagement Team Grant of the Smoky Mountain District of The United Methodist Church.

The 90-minute sessions will take place on four consecutive Tuesdays, beginning March 20, 2018, with both afternoon and evening sessions offered, as well as choice of venue.  All 2:00 p.m. sessions will be offered at the John & Dorothy Crawford Senior Center.   All 7:00 p.m. sessions will be offered at the Macon County Public Library.

ALL WORKSHOPS WILL BE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

More information, including a schedule of meeting locations and times, are on the blog. [LINK]

Uptown Gallery classes
(These are on-going classes – repeat weekly)

Free classes and open studio times are being offered at the The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Join others at a painting open studio session every Tuesday from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm or on Thursday from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. 

Bring your own materials and join an on-going drawing course led by gallery artists on Fridays, from 11am – 2 pm. For information on days open, hours and additional art classes and workshops, contact the gallery on 30 East Main Street at (828) 349 – 4607.




National Alliance on Mental Illness
Appalachian South

Meets each Thursday at 7pm
The First Methodist Church Outreach Center
at the intersection of Harrison Ave. and West Main Street
(directly across from Lazy Hiker Brewery)

Come join our weekly support group for anyone suffering from mental illness and their family or friends. This includes Depression, Bipolar,8chizophrenia, PTSD, Substance Abuse, Etc.

Here you will find:
— others living with mental health challenges YOU ARE NOT ALONE
- learn coping skills and ?find hope in shared experience
- help learning how to break down stigma and guilt surrounding mental health
- how to live life with the expectation of a better a better future

Kay (706)970-9987 Denise (828)347-5000)

SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

On January 1, 2017, the Syringe Exchange Program of Franklin began operating a comprehensive harm reduction program to address the opioid epidemic that is impacting western NC. Opioid overdose reversal kits including naloxone are available free of charge. If you have any questions about our services or if you know someone interested in volunteering, please contact Stephanie Almeida at 828-475-1920.



Sun and Moon

Sun

Begin civil twilight 6:31 a.m.
Sunrise 6:58 a.m.
Sun transit 1:33 p.m.
Sunset 8:09 p.m.
End civil twilight 8:35 p.m.


Moon

Moonrise 9:00 a.m.
Moon transit 4:01 p.m.
Moonset 11:07 p.m.


Phase of the Moon on April 18, 2018: Waxing Crescent with 9% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Closest Primary Moon Phase: New Moon on April 15, 2018 at 9:57 p.m. (local daylight time)

Sky Guides for this week


Sky and Telescope Magazine 
Astronomy Magazine


There will be three solar and two lunar eclipses in 2018. [LINK]

Heavens Above has an Android App that will assist you in observing the sky and even has a satellite tracker that will let you know when the International Space Station and dozens of other satellites are overhead. [LINK]

Stellarium is also an app that will assist you in observing the sky. It is available in both Android [LINK] and iOS versions. [LINK]

CROWD FUNDING OR DAY SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month.

If you have a business or event you are interested in sponsorship opportunities or underwriting coverage, send an email to editor@MaconMedia.com for more information. Serious inquiries only. Macon Media rewards early sponsors/underwriters with lifetime guaranteed low rates while newer sponsors/underwriters pay higher rates based on the date they first support Macon Media.

Thank You to the people who have been sending in donations and those businesses who are underwriting coverage of news and events. You have kept Macon Media online. You have made it possible for Macon Media to begin purchasing state of the art equipment and begin work on building a real website with features not employed by any local news outlets.

You can find out more information on how to do that and some of what I plan to accomplish if I reach certain levels of funding at https://www.patreon.com/MaconMedia

4:05 am on April 18, 2018

#WNCscan #MaconWx #MaconSafety

Data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, and the Weather Prediction Center.