News and Weather Briefing for Wednesday, August 5, 2020

OUTLOOK

Expect a more typical summertime pattern of mainly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms through the weekend and into early next week. Temperatures will be near normal for this time of year.

News Brief

Jackson County commissioners have voted 4-1 to keep the statue in place but to remove the Confederate flag at its base and replace it with a plaque that tells Jackson County's Civil War history. [LINK]

Video of the entire meeting

Macon Media published a COVID-19 briefing that included the latest numbers from Macon County Public Health. [LINK]

General Forecast Through Friday Night


Today

Widespread dense fog is expected to form this morning. Isolated showers are possible around noon, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with high highs ranging from the lower 70s in the higher elevations to the lower 80s in the lower elevations. Calm winds this morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 3am. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows ranging from the upper 50s in the higher elevations to the lower 60s in the lower elevations. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Thursday

Patchy fog in the morning. A chance of showers before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs ranging from the low-to-mid 70s in the higher elevations to the low-to-mid 80s in the lower elevations. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Thursday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then a slight chance of showers between 2am and 5am. Mostly cloudy, with lows ranging from the upper 50s in the higher elevations to the lower 60s in the lower elevations. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday

A slight chance of showers between 10am and noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Partly sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-70s in the higher elevations to the mid-80s in the lower elevations. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Friday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Partly cloudy, with lowd ranging from the upper 50s in the higher elevations to the lower 60s in the higher elevations.

Hazards

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected to develop across the region this afternoon and evening. Any of these thunderstorms may produce cloud to ground lightning, heavy downpours, and gusty winds. One or two of the thunderstorms may become severe, producing damaging wind gusts.

Air Quality



Macon County, including the ridegtops, will be a the mid-to-upper range of green today.

A lingering H5 trough in the TN valley now looks to remain through Thursday and should keep conditions unsettled with afternoon clouds/showers/storms, which will likely combine with an antecedent clean air mass to keep air quality levels in the Code Green range.



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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 Wed Aug 5 2020

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

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Post-Tropical Cyclone Isaias, which is moving rapidly north-northeastward over eastern Quebec.

1. A small low-pressure area located a few hundred miles southwest of Bermuda is producing minimal shower activity. This low is forecast to drift southwestward during the next couple of days, and any development is expected to be slow to occur due to dry air and increasing upper-level winds.

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

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End Daily Weather Segment

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Begin COVID-19 Update




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 126,532 people in North Carolina are infected, 1,982 have died, and infections are widespread, the NCDHHS website [LINK] reports 128,161 confirmed cases from 1,854,026 targeted tests, and 1,166 hospitalized and 2,010 deaths in the state. The Johns Hopkins Dashboard [LINK] reports 128,715 people infected and 2,061 deaths.

North Carolina Coronavirus Map and Case Count [LINK] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/north-carolina-coronavirus-cases.html

Data from Macon County Public Health as of yersterday afternoon and graph by Macon Media of data from May 30th to August 4th [LINK] 

Please note there is a gap for Saturdays and Sundays starting two weekends ago since the health department will no longer be reporting numbers on those days.





460 Detected Cases (unchanged in one day)
70 Active Positive (-5 in one day)
389 Recovered (+3 in one day)
3 Death (unchanged in one day)

Testing Data for Macon County

4218 MCPH Tests (unchanged in one day)
1427 Tests by Others unchanged in one day
5645 Total Tests (unchanged in one day)
236 Tests Pending Results (-1 in one day)

And here is the weekly Demographic Update from Macon County Public Health released on Wednesday, July 29th. The next demographic update will be on Wednesday, August 6th.




Infographic from Johns Hopkins University [LINK]





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



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Published at 5:20am Wednesday, August 05, 2020