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Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
Russo-UKrainian War Updates
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
Russo-Ukrainian War Videos (mostly long form)
On This Day
Support Macon Media
OUTLOOK
A subtropical airmass will shift into the region today, leading to much warmer weather for the end of the week. Chances for showers and thunderstorms also return to the area today. A cold front approaching the area Sunday will bring better chances for showers and storms, followed by cooler weather early next week.
• The nation marks 1,000,000 Americans lost to COVID-19 [Macon Media]
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Saturday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 9am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the upper 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the west 5 to 10 mph in the morning. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Calm winds.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the lower 90s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 80s.
Saturday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Partly sunny, with highs near 80. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 101 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with highs near 80.
Saturday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the upper 80s. Light winds of the northwest increasing and shifting to come out of the west 5 to 10 mph by midmorning. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 60s. Light winds out of the southwest.
Friday
Sunny, with highs near 90. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Calm winds.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s.
Saturday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s.
Nantahala Area
Today
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 8am. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Winds out of the west 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph before midnight.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 60s. Light winds out of the southwest.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s.
Saturday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Chance of rain is 40%.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Showers and thunderstorms may move out of East Tennessee and southwest Virginia and push into the North Carolina mountains tonight or early Thursday morning. Cloud-to-ground lightning, heavy rain, and gusty winds will be possible with any of these thunderstorms. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast Thursday afternoon and evening. A few of them could produce severe weather, in the form of damaging wind gusts and large hail.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop today along and ahead of a cold front. Cloud-to-ground lightning will be possible with any of the thunderstorms. A few of the storms also could produce severe weather, in the form of damaging wind gusts and large hail.
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Almanac
24 Hour Smoke Forecast
Below is the High Resolution Rapid Refresh from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction for our area. It runs from 12am EDT today to 6pm EDT this evening.
Air quality is in the middle range of yellow for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the extreme upper range of yellow.
Fire and Smoke Map
Local Air Monitor
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (7.8 out of 12) today with Birch, HIckory, and Maple being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (8.0 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for May 19th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 91°F in Franklin in 1962
Lowest Temperature 29°F in Highlands in 1894
Greatest Rainfall 2.81 inches in Highlands in 1983
Greatest Snowfall (no measurable snowfall has been recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)
Record weather events for May in Macon County
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of May Data available from 1873 to 2018 Highest Temperature 92°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 05-20-1996
Lowest Temperature 23°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 05-02-1963
Greatest Rainfall 5.97 inches in Highlands on 05-30-2018
Greatest Snowfall 2.5 inches in Highlands on 05-07-1992
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)
Wednesday, May 18th
Vaya Health Class - Bipolar Disorder and Extreme Mood Variation – Is There Stability?
1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room
Please register for this in-person VAYA Health class at https://www.vayahealth.com/calendar/ or call the library 828-524-3600.
Whether you are the caregiver of someone with bipolar disorder or an individual living with the inability to maintain a consistent mood, feeling 'stable' is often an infrequent reality. This class examines features and symptoms of the different types of the disorder. It also addresses causes, risk factors, and, most importantly, treatment. Specific focus is placed on the impact for the geriatric population.
This is a free event facilitated by the Vaya Health GERO team. CEU’s are provided through NC Department of Health and Human Services. If you're not able to attend this event, or you'd like to see what else they have to offer, feel free to visit https://www.vayahealth.com/calendar/ to sign up for free webinars offered by Vaya Health.
Friday, May 20th
Questions about Mental Health? with NAMI Appalachian South
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room
NAMI Appalachian South (National Alliance on Mental Illness) representatives will be showing films and answering questions about mental health and local resources.
Please visit our Mental Wellness display of books, films, and information about local mental health resources.
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Local and State News
• North Carolina voters choose primary winners in key Senate, House races [Courthouse News Service]
• Judge: NC businessman, already in prison for bribery, defrauded his companies, too [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• NC hits new record-high average gas price [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• NC Republicans considering state employee and teacher raises, tax cuts this session [Raleigh News and Observer]
• When the levee breaks: How a pandemic, a surging population and a striking lack of resources is steering WNC toward a judicial crisis [Smoky Mountain NewsE]
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Special Section: Russo-Ukrainian War Updates
(sharing of a particular source is not an endorsement)
(Longer videos are in the Russo-Ukraine Videos section)
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 18 [Institute for the Study of War] [PDF]
Is NATO running out of weapons to supply Ukraine? (no) | Perun
• Finland, Sweden Apply for NATO Membership, Breaking Decades of Neutrality [Wall Street Journal]
JOMINI OF THE WEST MAP (May 11th)
1/ Ukrainian TVD, Day 77-79. The past 72 hrs has seen the Ukrainian military press the advantages made by their limited Kharkiv counteroffensive to push Russian forces into the Belgorod Oblast. Russian offensive action along the Siverskyi Donets Line has achieved little success. pic.twitter.com/4eMsKr7IPq
— Jomini of the West (@JominiW) May 14, 2022
• Bellingcat | Sunday on 60 Minutes
• Why some young Swedes remain uneasy about joining NATO [DW News]
• Fighting for the future: Ukraine tackles rebuilding cities destroyed by war [France 24]
• Russia suffers series of military, economic, diplomatic defeats [Al Jazeera]
• Ukraine round-up: Mariupol aftermath and Russian soldier's trial [BBC News]
• Macron tells Zelenskiy: French arms deliveries to Ukraine will intensify [Reuters via Yahoo! News]
News from Russian or pro-Russian outlets or Video About the Russian Perspective
• Another NATO leader voices opposition to Sweden and Finland [Russia Today]
• Surrender of Azov* militants shrouded in mystery [Pravda ]
• West’s unwise moves lead to global food crisis, says Russian ambassador to US [TASS Russian News Agency]
The Ukraine War From Russia's Perspective
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National and World News Roundup
President Biden Announces Additional Actions to Increase Infant Formula Supply | The White House
• Biden invokes Defense Production Act for formula shortage [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• COVID-wracked N.Korea may greet Biden with a missile test [Reuters]
• Officer ‘motorboated’ subordinate at promotion ceremony, retires after guilty plea [Army Times]
• High schooler runs sub-4 minute mile, breaking record that had stood since 1965 [CBS Sports]
• Ex-Minneapolis officer pleads guilty in George Floyd killing [ABC News]
• White supremacists are convicted of training for a civil war in Michigan [Metro Times]
• Heat, winds stoke fears of wildfire in Northern California[Courthouse News Service]
• Fiona Hill says Putin got 'frustrated many times' with Trump because the Russian leader 'had to keep explaining things' to him [Yahoo! News]
Roe v Wade Opinion Leak (Read the Draft Opinion for Yourself)
Read the leaked your at Google Drive or below:
Eye on the Fourth Estate
[Definition]
Global National: May 18, 2022 | Canadians feeling the pinch as inflation rate soars to new high
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - May 18th, 2022
PBS NewsHour Full Episode May 18th, 2022
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COVID-19 News and Updates
Here is a section on COVID-19. It includes 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 7:41pm CEST, 18 May 2022, there have been 520,372,492 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,270,232 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 15 May 2022, a total of 11,660,363,722 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 7:41pm CEST, 18 May 2022, there have been 81,824,843 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 992,667 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 6 May 2022, a total of 570,102,931 vaccine doses have been administered.
• Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes [Nature]
• A third of US should be considering masks, officials say [AP News]
• Apple reinstates retail employee mask mandate at about 100 US stores [Apple Insider]
• The pandemic’s true health cost: how much of our lives has COVID stolen? [Nature]
• It's happening again: COVID-19 cases are back on the rise. There are 3 main reasons why. [USA Today]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• China Is 3D Printing a Massive 590-Foot-Tall Dam ... And Constructing It With Without Humans [Popular Mechanics]
• Robot Jumps a Record-Breaking 100 Feet in the Air [Smithsonian Magazine]
• Exclusive: John Deere closes in on fully autonomous farming with its latest AI acquisition [The Next WebE]
• IBM says it will have thousands of quantum computers for sale by 2025 [Tech Radar]
• Malware Can Be Loaded Even Onto Phones That Are Turned Off, Researchers Show [Vice News]
• Free, legally available series/movies on YouTube in a Netlflix-like interface [Lamplight TV]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Anything from educational, entertainment, history, current events and technology
SpaceX Starlink 47 launch & Falcon 9 first stage landing, 18 May 2022
Camp Ellis: Forgotten City
How mRNA Medicine Will Change the World | Melissa J. Moore | TED
Google Shares the Future of Hardware at IO 2022
Billionaire Michael Saylor Believes in Bitcoin More Than Ever
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Russo-Ukrainian War Videos (mostly long form)
--> Turkey blocks early talks on Finland and Sweden joining | DW News
Russian soldier pleads guilty in first war crimes trial of Ukraine conflict | BBC News
US ‘confident’ NATO expansion issues will be resolved
US reopens Kyiv embassy as Russian soldier pleads guilty at first war crimes trial
How Mariupol’s Azovstal Siege Became a Focal Point in the War in Ukraine | WSJ
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On This Day
May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 226 days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev.
1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
1542 – The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.
1643 – Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.
1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.
1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
1780 – New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
1848 – Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
1883 – Buffalo Bill's 1st Buffalo Bill's Wild West opens in Omaha, Nebraska.
1900 – Great Britain annexes Tonga Island.
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1911 – Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
1917 – The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.
1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
1921 – The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.
1933 – Finnish cavalry general C. G. E. Mannerheim was appointed the field marshal.
1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.
1945 – Syrian demonstrators in Damascus are fired upon by French troops injuring twelve, leading to the Levant Crisis.
1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
1993 – SAM Colombia Flight 501 crashes on approach to José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín, Colombia, killing 132.
1996 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on mission STS-77.
1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts
2000 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station.
2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.
2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.
2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.
2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.
2020 Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in "Nature Climate Change"
2020 Two dams on Tittabawassee River in central Michigan breached by floodwaters, forcing evacuation of thousands of residents
2021 New York City begins re-opening after 423 days (March 2020) with the COVID-19 death toll at 33,000
2021 The EU agrees to open its borders to vaccinated travelers from safe countries
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Published at 5:00am on Thursnday, May 19, 2022
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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