**note** Facebook has banned Macon Media from posting for 24 hours, so please refer to Twitter or Mewe for public safety updates until 5 am tomorrow morning.
Today's public safety log is on Macon Media and will be updated as incidents occur.
Here is an index to assist you in moving from section to section within the article.
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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
Support Macon Media
OUTLOOK
Dry high pressure will persist over the region through Tuesday night, and temperatures will moderate back to seasonal normals through the first half of the week. A slow moving frontal system will arrive from the northwest Wednesday night into Thursday bringing rain which will continue across the region until Friday. Dry and cool high pressure arrives behind the cold front Friday night into Saturday.
SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Franklin Area Schools
Franklin area schools will operate on a two hour delay today, Monday, January 31, 2022 with no buses on icy roads.
Nantahala School
Nantahala School will be operating on a Two-Hour Delay today, Monday, January 31, 2022.
Southwestern Community College
SCC Delayed Opening on 1/31/22 - All SCC locations except the Public Safety Training Center will open at 10 a.m.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
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 next project.
DAY SPONSOR
Tree Young Service is sponsoring Macon Media for today.
They provide complete tree care, are licensed and insured. Specializing in low ground impact. Danger tree removal. Crane Service, Pruning, Views, 24 hr emergency service. Call 828-421-0967 or visit Young Tree Service for more information.
---END SPONSOR SEGMENT------
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Wednesday Night
Franklin Area
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Light winds out of the northwest.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Light winds out of the southeast.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the lower 50s.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows around 40. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s. Calm winds in the early evening increasing to come out of the east around 5 mph after midnight.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the east 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs near 50.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows around 40. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Nantahala Area
Today
Sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Clear, with lows in the upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs near 50. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing. WInds out of the southeast around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs near 50.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows in the low-to-mid 40s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Patchy black ice will pose a danger to drivers through this morning. Other than that, hazardous weather is not expected today.
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Almanac
Air quality is in the extreme upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the extreme upper range of green. due to smoke from several fires in the southeast, most notably the Range 40 Fire in southern Alabama. See map below for a better idea of the situation.
Fire and Smoke Map
Local Air Monitor
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the low range (2.2 out of 12) today with Juniper and Elm being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (2.6 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for January 31st
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2002
Lowest Temperature -6°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1966
Greatest Rainfall 3.51 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2013
Greatest Snowfall 5.0 inches in Highlands in 1899
Record weather events for January in Macon County
Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on Jan 28, 1999
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on Jan 21, 1985
Greatest Rainfall 4.30 inches in Nantahala on Jan 23, 1971
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 14.0 inches in Franklin on Jan 21, 1877
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)
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
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Local and State News
• A year of service is commended at HFR (Highlands Fire and Rescue) awards banquet [Plateau Daily News]
• School closings, delays in Western North Carolina, Jan. 31[Asheville Citizen-Times]
• What two contradictory redistricting decisions could tell us about this week's Supreme Court showdown [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• What would a wind farm off the NC coast look like from the beach? Here’s an idea. [Raleigh News and Observer]
• Manager at NC Amazon warehouse admits to stealing, then selling merchandise worth millions [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• COVID-Infected Workers Force Mission to Redeploy Dwindling Staff, Postpone Surgeries [Smoky Mountain News]
• Macon County Board of Commissioners - January 2022 Regular Meeting [Macon Media]
Franklin Town Council - January 2022 Regular Meeting
Asheville Citizen-Times COVID-19 Tracker [Asheville Citizen-Times]
-->
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National and World News Roundup
• Biden calls for release of US hostage in Afghanistan [Yahoo! News]
• The Hard-Line Russian Advisers Who Have Putin’s Ear [New York Times]
• Europe’s energy security worries NATO amid standoff with Russia [Al Jazeera]
• With shadow docket, Supreme Court puts Band-Aids on a bullet hole [Courthouse news Service]
• 2 homemade explosives detonate inside 2 cars within same week in south Oak Park, police say [KCRA-TV (Sacremento, CA)]
• On to Super Bowl: Bengals versus Rams [AP News]
• UAE intercepts, destroys missile in third attack launched by Houthis [Khaleej Times]
Global National: Jan. 30, 2022 | 2nd day of trucker convoy protests grind Ottawa businesses to halt
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - January 30th, 2021
PBS NewsHour Full Episode January 30th, 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 4:00pm CET, 28 January 2022, there have been 364,191,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,631,457 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 28 January 2022, a total of 9,854,237,363 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 4:00pm CET, 28 January 2022, there have been 72,373,369 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 869,779 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 21 January 2022, a total of 518,927,314 vaccine doses have been administered.
• Myocarditis Risk 17 Times Higher for Unvaccinated Patients Ages 12-30 Who Get COVID-19 Than COVID-Vaccinated Patients [Epic Research]
Dr John Campbell: Omicron outcompetes omicron, official data
• ‘Like sewage and rotting flesh’: Covid’s lasting impact on taste and smell [The Guardian]
Neil Young's Spotify Ultimatum
• Spotify Announces Addition Of Content Warnings In Response To Joe Rogan Covid-19 Misinformation Criticism [Deadline]
• Ottawa police investigating some anti vaccine protesters [AP News]
• Ottawa homeless shelter staff harassed by convoy protesters demanding food [CTV News]
• Explainer: Scientists on alert over rising cases caused by Omicron cousin BA.2[Reuters]
• A Multimodal Strategy to Reduce the Risk of Hospitalization/death in Ambulatory Patients with COVID-19 [Science Direct]
• The inactivated NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine induces a significantly higher ratio of neutralizing to non-neutralizing antibodies in humans as compared to mRNA vaccines [MedRxiv (PDF)]
• Monitoring COVID-19
[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
[Outbreak.info]
• CDC Releases Emergency Guidance for Healthcare Facilities to Prepare for Potential Omicron Surge [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
• COVID-19 case rates by county in 2021 [AXIOS]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• Robot performs first laparoscopic surgery without human help [Johns Hopkins University]
• Cyberattacks increasingly hobble pandemic-weary US schools [AP News]
• Putin orders apparent new system for banning internet content [Reuters]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Solar System Volcanoes and Iron Lava
Linux Did This First | LINUX Unplugged 443
Nuclear Terraforming: Using Nukes to Bring Life to Mars
Nvidia Might Be Done With Arm Acquisition
The Most Powerful Computers You've Never Heard Of
• Addendum - EP18 Iranian Interconnections [Hardcore History]
Hardcore History: EP18 Iranian Interconnections
NEWS: MSFT up $10B, Neil Young vs. Rogan (Spotify: Platform or Publisher), Case Study: Scratchpad
Elon Musk... and Asperger's Syndrome.
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On This Day
January 31st is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 334 days remain until the end of the year (335 in leap years).
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
1578 – Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the RÃo de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
1848 РJohn C. Fr̩mont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.
1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
1901 – Anton Chekhov's Three sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
1917 – World War I: Kaiser Wilhelm II orders the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Suinula massacre, which changes the nature of the war in a more hostile direction, takes place in Kangasala.
1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed two days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles.
1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
1950 – President Truman orders the development of thermonuclear weapons.
1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to the Korean War is adopted.
1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Eight people (five total crew from two aircraft and three on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: The chimpanzee Ham travels into outer space.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1988 – Doug Williams becomes the first African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.
1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2001 – Two Japan Airlines planes nearly collide over Suruga Bay in Japan.
2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2020 – The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
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Published at 5:00am on Monday, January 31, 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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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
Support Macon Media
OUTLOOK
Dry high pressure will persist over the region through Tuesday night, and temperatures will moderate back to seasonal normals through the first half of the week. A slow moving frontal system will arrive from the northwest Wednesday night into Thursday bringing rain which will continue across the region until Friday. Dry and cool high pressure arrives behind the cold front Friday night into Saturday.
SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Franklin Area Schools
Franklin area schools will operate on a two hour delay today, Monday, January 31, 2022 with no buses on icy roads.
Nantahala School
Nantahala School will be operating on a Two-Hour Delay today, Monday, January 31, 2022.
Southwestern Community College
SCC Delayed Opening on 1/31/22 - All SCC locations except the Public Safety Training Center will open at 10 a.m.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
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 next project.
DAY SPONSOR
Tree Young Service is sponsoring Macon Media for today.
They provide complete tree care, are licensed and insured. Specializing in low ground impact. Danger tree removal. Crane Service, Pruning, Views, 24 hr emergency service. Call 828-421-0967 or visit Young Tree Service for more information.
---END SPONSOR SEGMENT------
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Wednesday Night
Franklin Area
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Light winds out of the northwest.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Light winds out of the southeast.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the lower 50s.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows around 40. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s. Calm winds in the early evening increasing to come out of the east around 5 mph after midnight.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the east 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs near 50.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows around 40. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Nantahala Area
Today
Sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Clear, with lows in the upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs near 50. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing. WInds out of the southeast around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs near 50.
Wednesday Night
Showers. Lows in the low-to-mid 40s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Patchy black ice will pose a danger to drivers through this morning. Other than that, hazardous weather is not expected today.
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Almanac
Air quality is in the extreme upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the extreme upper range of green. due to smoke from several fires in the southeast, most notably the Range 40 Fire in southern Alabama. See map below for a better idea of the situation.
Fire and Smoke Map
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the low range (2.2 out of 12) today with Juniper and Elm being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (2.6 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for January 31st
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2002
Lowest Temperature -6°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1966
Greatest Rainfall 3.51 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2013
Greatest Snowfall 5.0 inches in Highlands in 1899
Record weather events for January in Macon County
Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on Jan 28, 1999
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on Jan 21, 1985
Greatest Rainfall 4.30 inches in Nantahala on Jan 23, 1971
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 14.0 inches in Franklin on Jan 21, 1877
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)
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
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Local and State News
• A year of service is commended at HFR (Highlands Fire and Rescue) awards banquet [Plateau Daily News]
• School closings, delays in Western North Carolina, Jan. 31[Asheville Citizen-Times]
• What two contradictory redistricting decisions could tell us about this week's Supreme Court showdown [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• What would a wind farm off the NC coast look like from the beach? Here’s an idea. [Raleigh News and Observer]
• Manager at NC Amazon warehouse admits to stealing, then selling merchandise worth millions [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• COVID-Infected Workers Force Mission to Redeploy Dwindling Staff, Postpone Surgeries [Smoky Mountain News]
Franklin Town Council - January 2022 Regular Meeting
Asheville Citizen-Times COVID-19 Tracker [Asheville Citizen-Times]
-->
Back to Top
National and World News Roundup
• Biden calls for release of US hostage in Afghanistan [Yahoo! News]
• The Hard-Line Russian Advisers Who Have Putin’s Ear [New York Times]
• Europe’s energy security worries NATO amid standoff with Russia [Al Jazeera]
• With shadow docket, Supreme Court puts Band-Aids on a bullet hole [Courthouse news Service]
• 2 homemade explosives detonate inside 2 cars within same week in south Oak Park, police say [KCRA-TV (Sacremento, CA)]
• On to Super Bowl: Bengals versus Rams [AP News]
• UAE intercepts, destroys missile in third attack launched by Houthis [Khaleej Times]
Global National: Jan. 30, 2022 | 2nd day of trucker convoy protests grind Ottawa businesses to halt
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - January 30th, 2021
PBS NewsHour Full Episode January 30th, 2021
Back to Top
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 4:00pm CET, 28 January 2022, there have been 364,191,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,631,457 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 28 January 2022, a total of 9,854,237,363 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 4:00pm CET, 28 January 2022, there have been 72,373,369 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 869,779 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 21 January 2022, a total of 518,927,314 vaccine doses have been administered.
• Myocarditis Risk 17 Times Higher for Unvaccinated Patients Ages 12-30 Who Get COVID-19 Than COVID-Vaccinated Patients [Epic Research]
Dr John Campbell: Omicron outcompetes omicron, official data
• ‘Like sewage and rotting flesh’: Covid’s lasting impact on taste and smell [The Guardian]
Neil Young's Spotify Ultimatum
• Spotify Announces Addition Of Content Warnings In Response To Joe Rogan Covid-19 Misinformation Criticism [Deadline]
• Ottawa police investigating some anti vaccine protesters [AP News]
• Ottawa homeless shelter staff harassed by convoy protesters demanding food [CTV News]
• Explainer: Scientists on alert over rising cases caused by Omicron cousin BA.2[Reuters]
• A Multimodal Strategy to Reduce the Risk of Hospitalization/death in Ambulatory Patients with COVID-19 [Science Direct]
• The inactivated NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine induces a significantly higher ratio of neutralizing to non-neutralizing antibodies in humans as compared to mRNA vaccines [MedRxiv (PDF)]
• Monitoring COVID-19
[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
[Outbreak.info]
• CDC Releases Emergency Guidance for Healthcare Facilities to Prepare for Potential Omicron Surge [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
• COVID-19 case rates by county in 2021 [AXIOS]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• Robot performs first laparoscopic surgery without human help [Johns Hopkins University]
• Cyberattacks increasingly hobble pandemic-weary US schools [AP News]
• Putin orders apparent new system for banning internet content [Reuters]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Solar System Volcanoes and Iron Lava
Linux Did This First | LINUX Unplugged 443
Nuclear Terraforming: Using Nukes to Bring Life to Mars
Nvidia Might Be Done With Arm Acquisition
The Most Powerful Computers You've Never Heard Of
• Addendum - EP18 Iranian Interconnections [Hardcore History]
Hardcore History: EP18 Iranian Interconnections
NEWS: MSFT up $10B, Neil Young vs. Rogan (Spotify: Platform or Publisher), Case Study: Scratchpad
Elon Musk... and Asperger's Syndrome.
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On This Day
January 31st is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 334 days remain until the end of the year (335 in leap years).
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
1578 – Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the RÃo de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
1848 РJohn C. Fr̩mont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.
1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
1901 – Anton Chekhov's Three sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
1917 – World War I: Kaiser Wilhelm II orders the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Suinula massacre, which changes the nature of the war in a more hostile direction, takes place in Kangasala.
1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed two days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles.
1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
1950 – President Truman orders the development of thermonuclear weapons.
1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to the Korean War is adopted.
1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Eight people (five total crew from two aircraft and three on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: The chimpanzee Ham travels into outer space.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1988 – Doug Williams becomes the first African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.
1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2001 – Two Japan Airlines planes nearly collide over Suruga Bay in Japan.
2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2020 – The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
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Published at 5:00am on Monday, January 31, 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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