Daily Weather Briefing for Wednesday, May 23, 2018

LOCAL OUTLOOK

A moist air mass will remain in control of our weather through today, with good chances for showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. A weak backdoor cold front will move into the forecast area from the north on Thursday and should allow for some brief drying for Thursday and Friday. Another round of deep tropical moisture is expected to lift across the area over the weekend and into early next 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 you with your with your next project.

Weather Almanac for May 23rd (1872-2016)

Record weather events for this date in Macon County

Highest Temperature 89°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1941
Lowest Temperature 33°F in Highlands in 2002
Greatest Rainfall 4.62 inches in Highlands in 1923

Record Weather Events for May (1872-2017)

Highest Temperature 92°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on May 20, 1996
Lowest Temperature 23°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on May 2, 1963
Greatest Rainfall 4.2 inches in Highlands on May 23, 1923
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 2.5 inches in Highlands on May 7, 1992



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

Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 10am. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

TONIGHT

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

THURSDAY

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

THURSDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

FRIDAY

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

FRIDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a chance of rain between 2am and 5am. Cloudy, with a low around 62. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

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OTTO AREA

TODAY

Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

TONIGHT

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

THURSDAY

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

THURSDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Light east wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

FRIDAY

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 79. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

FRIDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 62. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

---------------------------------------------
HIGHLANDS AREA

TODAY

Scattered showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 9am. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

TONIGHT

Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

THURSDAY

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

THURSDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

FRIDAY

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 69. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

FRIDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 59. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

--------------------------------------------
NANTAHALA AREA

TODAY

Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

TONIGHT

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 60. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

THURSDAY

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

THURSDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. East southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

FRIDAY

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

FRIDAY NIGHT

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a chance of rain between 2am and 5am. Cloudy, with a low around 59. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

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GOES-16 GeoColor - True Color daytime, multispectral IR
12:17 am to 3:12 am this morning


HAZARDS

Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible today and tonight. Severe weather is not anticipated.

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



GOES 16 - Band 15 - 12.3 µm - Dirty Longwave Window - IR (Precipitation)
3:22 am this morning

TROPICAL OUTLOOK

Hurricane Season Officially begins on June 1, 2018. Information will be added to this segment as systems develop.

IMAGE HERE

Special Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
715 PM EDT Tue May 22 2018

For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

1. A broad surface low centered just east of Belize is producing a large area of cloudiness and showers extending from the northwestern Caribbean Sea across Cuba and into the Florida peninsula. Little development is expected during the next couple of days due to strong upper-level winds and proximity to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
However, gradual subtropical or tropical development is possible late this week while the system moves slowly into the central or eastern Gulf of Mexico. Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall is possible across western Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and much of Florida during the next several days.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...50 percent.

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.

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


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

Free classes and open studio times are being offered at 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 5:56 a.m.
Sunrise 6:24 a.m.
Sun transit 1:30 p.m.
Sunset 8:37 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:05 p.m.


Moon

Moonset 3:09 a.m.
Moonrise 2:53 p.m.
Moon transit 9:22 p.m.
Moonset 3:43 a.m. tomorrow morning


Phase of the Moon on May 23, 2018: Waxing Gibbous with 67% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Closest Primary Moon Phase: First Quarter on May 21, 2018 at 11:49 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]

CROWDFUNDING 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

Published at 3:35 am on May 23, 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, National Hurricane Center, 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.