News and Weather Briefing for Monday, June 29, 2020

OUTLOOK

An upper-level disturbance arriving from the northwest will produce another round of showers and thunderstorms across the region today. Unsettled weather will continue throughout the remainder of the week as a front is expected to stall just north of the region and moisture persists across the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia.


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Air Quality Alert

An Air Quality Action Day means that Fine Particulates concentrations within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards.



Forecast Valid: Monday, June 29, 2020

Today's Air Quality Conditions: Particle pollution readings are in the Code Orange range today over most of the state today owing to a mass of Saharan dust moving across the state. Lower readings in the mid/upper-Code Yellow range are presently being observed over the Mountains and southern Piedmont, though hourly readings may jump intermittently through the rest of today; thus, the Code Orange Air Quality Alert will remain in place through the rest of today statewide. Ozone readings are in the Code Green range statewide today.

District Attorney Ashley Welch Investigates Larger Spaces for Substitute Courtrooms During COVID-19 Pandemic [LINK]

The Governor Make Masks Mandatory

Governor Cooper has issued Executive Order 147, which extends Executive Order 141's Safer At Home restrictions and requires people, with some exceptions, to wear face coverings in public when social distancing is not possible. A copy of the executive order and the video briefing where he made the announcement are posted on Macon Media. [LINK]



Most recent Local Government Meetings

The Macon County Board of Commissioners met on June 2nd. [LINK]

The Franklin Town Council met on June 1st. Members of the public and local media outlets were allowed in the town hall. [LINK]



General Forecast Through Wednesday Night

Today (Air Quality Alert- Saharan Dust Storm)

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs ranging from the mid-to-upper 70s in the higher elevations to the mid-to-upper 80s in the lower elevations. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight (Air Quality Alert- Saharan Dust Storm)

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the 60s. Light winds out of the northwest. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tuesday

A chance of showers before 11am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11am and 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. Light winds out of the northwest. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tuesday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 8pm and 11pm, then a chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the 60s. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Wednesday

A chance of showers before 11am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11am and 2pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Highs ranging from the low-to-mid-70s to the low-to-mid-80s. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Wednesday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8pm. Lows in the 60s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Hazards

Scattered thunderstorms will develop across the region today, mainly this afternoon and evening. These thunderstorms will produce dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning, locally heavy rainfall, and briefly gusty winds. A few of the storms may become severe, with damaging wind gusts the primary threat. Large hail is possible as well. The greatest chance of severe thunderstorms will be across Upstate South Carolina and extreme northeast Georgia. Any thunderstorms repeatedly affecting the same location may produce localized flash flooding.

Additional rounds of afternoon and evening thunderstorms are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. A damaging wind threat will continue with any of the stronger storms, and flash flooding may develop with any thunderstorms repeatedly affecting the same locations through the middle of the week.




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Weather Sponsor



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Tropical Weather
(The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th)








Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Mon Jun 29 2020

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

1. Shower and thunderstorm activity associated with a tropical wave located over the central tropical Atlantic has increased during the past few hours. Some slight development of the wave is possible during the next day or so while it moves westward to west-northwestward at around 20 mph. Strong upper-level winds are forecast to inhibit further development by mid-week.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...10 percent.

2. An area of low pressure is forecast to form off of the southeastern coast of the United States on Tuesday. Some development of this system could then occur later this week as it moves generally northeastward well offshore of the east coast of the United States.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...20 percent.


End Daily Weather Segment

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Begin COVID-19 Update (a more in-depth article will be posted later this morning)



Here are some numbers from the CDC, the NCDHHS, and the Johns Hopkins Dashboard. Macon Media prefers the Johns Hopkins Dashboard because the counts include those non-residents that are left out of the CDC and NCDHHS numbers.

The CDC website [LINK] reports 58,816 people in North Carolina are infected, 1,303 have died, and infections are widespread, the NCDHHS website [LINK] reports 60,537 confirmed cases from 855,151 targeted tests, and 888 hospitalized and 1,318 deaths in the state. The Johns Hopkins Dashboard [LINK] reports 60,812 people infected and 1,812 deaths.


Data from Macon County Public Health as of June 27th [LINK]


Detected 274 (+2 in one day) (+21 in 7 days) (+52 in 14 days)
Actives 164 (+2 in one day) (-49 in 7 days) (-39 in 14 days)
Recovered 109 (0 in one day) (+70 in 7 days) (+91 in 14 days)
Deceased 1 (0 in one day) (0 in 7 days) (0 in 14 days)


Testing Data

MCPH Tests 2,762 (0 in one day) (+334 in 7 days) (+728 in 14 days)
Other Tests 684 (0 in one day) (+52 in 7 days) (+252 in 14 days)
Total Tests 3,446 (0 in one day) (+386 in 7 days) (+980 in 14 days)
Pending 202 (-38 in one day) (+21 in 7 days) (+97 in 14 days)





Resources for Reliable Information about the Corona Virus (COVID-19) [LINK]






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Published at 4:38am Monday, June 28, 2020