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Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
On This Day
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OUTLOOK
Warm high pressure will remain over the area before a moist cold front sweeps across our area Saturday. Expect this front to stall to the south Monday while a moist low pressure system develops across the northern Gulf of Mexico. This low looks to track east across Florida and possibly bring a round of precipitation to the forecast area Tuesday into Wednesday.
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Local Weather
National Weather Map for Today
General forecast through Sunday Night
Franklin area
Today
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs near 70. Light and variable winds.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers after 2am. Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows around 50. Calm winds.
Saturday
Showers, mainly after 9am. Patchy fog before 8am. Highs in the mid 60s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Showers likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Calm winds in the early evening increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of rain is 70%.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 50s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs near 60. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the southwest in the afternoon.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows around 50. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday
Showers, mainly after 8am. Patchy fog before 8am. Highs in the mid-to-upper 50s. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of rain is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Showers, mainly before 1am. Low around 40. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph easrly in the evening shifting to come out of the northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of rain is 80%.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers before 9am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
Otto area
Today
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the upper 60s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s. Calm winds increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph before midnight. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday
Showers, mainly after 9am. Patchy fog before 8am. Highs in the mid 60s. WInds out of the southwest 3 to 6 mph. Chance of rain is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Showers likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with lows around 40. Light and variable winds in the early evening increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Chance of rain is 70%.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers before 8am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 50s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
Nantahala area
Today
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers after 2am. Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 50s. Light winds out of the south. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday
Showers, mainly after 8am. Patchy fog before 8am. Highs in the lower 60s. Light and variable winds early increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph by midmorning. Chance of rain is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers. Lows in the upper 30s. Light and variable winds early in the evening increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of rain is 80%.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 30.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Hazardous Weather is not expected today.
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Almanac
Air Quality
Air quality is in the lower range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the lower range of green.
Fire and Smoke Map
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the low range (1.4 out of 12) today with a mixed trace of sources being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low range (0.3 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for December 17th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 75°F in Highlands in 1924
lowest Temperature 1°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1943
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 2.79 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1992
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 2.0 inches in Franklin in 1882
Record weather events for December in Macon County
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on Dec 31, 1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on Dec 30, 1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.00 inches in Highlands on Dec 14, 1901
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on Dec 21, 1876
All-time record weather events for Macon County
Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on Jul 29, 1952
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on Jan 21, 1985
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on Jul 29, 1879
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 25.5 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station on Mar 13, 1993
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
Experiencing Nature Through Expanded Senses
"Friends of the Greenway is hosting an indoor "Experiencing Nature Through Expanded Senses" with leader, Diane Wildermuth. Sessions will be held at FROG Quarters on December 15 at 10:30 AM or 12:30 PM. Contact Diane at 421-5539 or dswnatureguide@outlook.com for additional information or to register."
THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride
THE POLAR EXPRESS™ with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is back in 2021! The 1¼ hour round-trip passenger excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the North Pole to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board THE POLAR EXPRESS™, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell. Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot. For tickets, see [GSMR.com]
Dillsboro Lights & Luminaries
Adapted from an old Scandinavian custom of lighting the way for the Christ child, more than 2,500 candles in small white bags line the streets and every storefront is aglow with Christmas lights and decorations. Shopkeepers and restaurants are open late. See Santa and Mrs. Claus as they ride through town in their pickup truck. Write a letter to Santa and drop it off at his special mailbox. Live music on Front Street. For more information, see [Visit Dillsboro]
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Local and State News
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County: [November 15, 2021]
• Trooper shot, suspect dead after Yancey County chase [WLOS-TV]
• Say what?!? Asheville makes 'worst place to live' list, based on standard of living [Asheville Citizen-Times]
• 2021 Macon County Employee Service Awards [Macon Media]
Franklin Town Council - December 2021 Special Called Meeting
• Thank to Teachers: Mina Jenkins [WLOS-TV]
• Macon County Board of Education - December 2021 Regular Meeting [Macon Media]
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National and World News Roundup
Bushcraft Bear: La Palma Volcano Report for December 14th, 2021
• School shooting, bombing threats promising nationwide attacks circulate on TikTok, social media [ABC News Chicago]
• Schools across US cancel classes over unconfirmed TikTok threats [The Verge]
• U.S.-led coalition shoots down drone in southern Syria [Reuters]
• Dominion Voting wins key decision in lawsuit against Fox Newse [CNN]
• Capitol attack panel subpoenas author of PowerPoint plan for coup [The Guardian]
• U.S. curbs Chinese drone maker DJI, other firms it accuses of aiding rights abuses [Reuters]
• Congress passes import ban to punish China for Uyghur abuse [Courthouse news Service]
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - December 16th, 2021
PBS NewsHour Full Episode December 16th, 2021
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COVID-19 News and Updates
Since it looks like we may be in for a new wave of infections, here is a section on COVID-19. It will include local, regional, state, national, and global items.
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County: [November 18, 2021]
• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [World Health Organization]
Globally, as of 5:51pm CET, 16 December 2021, there have been 271,376,643 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,324,969 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 16 December 2021, a total of 8,337,664,456 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 5:51pm CET, 16 December 2021, there have been 49,833,416 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 792,371 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 10 December 2021, a total of 465,812,616 vaccine doses have been administered.
• 103 Marines booted for refusing COVID vaccine as services begin discharges [ABC News]
• Anti-vaxxers storm a New York Cheesecake Factory in protest that ends in 6 arrests [Business Insider]
• Neurodevelopmental outcomes at one year in offspring of mothers who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy [MedRxiv (PDF)]
• US military has vaccinated more than 97% of service members [CNN]
• CDC predicts up to 1.3 million new COVID cases by Christmas [WHEC-TV]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
Level1 News December 17 2021: Praise the Moon Cube
• SpaceX VP says Starship is already winning commercial launch contracts [Teslarati]
• Intel to invest $7.1B in Malaysia chipmaking expansion [AP News]
Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur: Vertical Farming
• U.S. Prepares To Spend $42 Billion On A Broadband Problem It Can't Accurately Measure [TechDirt]
• Why Frances Haugen Is 'Super Scared' About Facebook's Metaverse [Time Magazine]
• https://time.com/6128706/frances-haugen-metaverse-facebook/ [Tech Crunch]
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On This Day
December 17th is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 14 days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.
546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
920 – Romanos I Lekapenos is crowned co-emperor of the underage Constantine VII.
942 – Assassination of William I of Normandy.
1398 – Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1583 – Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.
1586 – Go-Yōzei becomes Emperor of Japan.
1718 – War of the Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1777 – American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1812 – War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.
1819 – Simón Bolívar declares the independence of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).
1835 – The second Great Fire of New York destroys 53,000 square metres (13 acres) of New York City's Financial District.
1837 – A fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg kills 30 guards.
1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
1892 – First issue of Vogue is published.
1896 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America, is destroyed in a fire.
1903 – The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1907 – Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan.
1918 – Darwin Rebellion: Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1926 – Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful.
1927 – Indian revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri is hanged in Gonda jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, two days before the scheduled date.
1928 – Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.
1933 – The first NFL Championship Game is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears won 23–21.
1935 – First flight of the Douglas DC-3.
1938 – Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1943 – All Chinese are again permitted to become citizens of the United States upon the repeal of the Act of 1882 and the introduction of the Magnuson Act.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.
1946 – Kurdistan flag day, the flag of Kurdistan was raised for the first time in Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan (Iran).
1947 – First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.
1948 – The Finnish Security Police is established to remove communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police.
1950 – The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.
1951 – The American Civil Rights Congress delivers "We Charge Genocide" to the United Nations.
1957 – The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1960 – Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
1960 – Munich C-131 crash: Twenty passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.
1961 – Niterói circus fire: Fire breaks out during a performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing more than 500.
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.
1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
1970 – Polish protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
1973 – Thirty passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport.
1981 – American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
1983 – Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.
1989 – Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timișoara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
1989 – Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years.
1989 – The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
1997 – Aerosvit Flight 241: A Yakovlev Yak-42 crashes into the Pierian Mountains near Thessaloniki Airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, killing all 70 people on board.
2002 – Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
2003 – The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend, Maxine Carr, is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
2003 – SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.
2003 – Sex work rights activists establish December 17 (or "D17") as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to memorialize victims of a serial killer who targeted prostitutes, and highlight State violence against sex workers by police and others.
2005 – Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
2005 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.
2009 – MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.
2010 – Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.
2014 – The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.
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Published at 5:00am on Friday, December 17, 2021
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to the following websites or books: MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War. Weather and Almanac 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, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center. Back to Top
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