Daily Weather Briefing for Wednesday, February 2, 2017

Weather Advisories and Warnings Across the USA
NATIONAL OUTLOOK

...Rain and mountain snow returns to the western U.S. while the remainder of the nation remains rather uneventful...

After several days of a rather uneventful weather pattern across most of the nation, things will begin changing for the West Coast going into Thursday. The western U.S. ridge is expected to break down some and allow for a Pacific storm system to work its way towards the California coast and bring moderate to heavy rain back to central and northern California, and also Oregon. Parts of the coastal ranges could get 1 to 3 inches of rainfall by Friday morning. Heavy snow is also likely for the higher elevations of the Sierra and also for the northern Rockies.

Elsewhere across the continental U.S., broad cyclonic flow aloft will keep a cool and dry pattern in place for most areas. Lake effect snow is expected downwind of the Great Lakes, where snowfall amounts in excess of six inches are possible. Another area of precipitation in the form of rain is likely across portions of the southern U.S. in association with a surface low developing along a cold front.



LOCAL OVERVIEW

Expect continued warming though Wednesday as southerly flow boosts temperatures to much above normal levels. A dry cold front will slide south into the region by Thursday dropping temperatures back below normal Friday and through the weekend. A low-pressure system and associated cold front will approach from the west at the end of the weekend with light to moderate precipitation.


THREE DAY OUTLOOK




Wednesday

Mostly sunny with highs near the lower 60s and light winds out of the west increasing to 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.


Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with lows near 40 and winds out of the west. 30% chance of rain with rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch expected.




Thursday

Mostly sunny with highs near the mid 50s and winds out of the northwest.

Thursday Night

Mostly cloudy with lows near the mid to upper 30s and winds out of the northwest calming before midnight.




Friday

Mostly cloudy with highs near 50. 30% chance of rain, mainly before 4 pm.


Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with lows near freezing.

HAZARDS

No hazardous weather is expected.

As always, you can check to see what advisories, watches and warnings are in effect for Macon County by visiting http://is.gd/MACONWARN



MACON CALENDAR

If you have an event you wish to be added to this calendar, please send the information, along with a flyer of photo, to editor@maconmedia.com
There is no charge for civic, educational or non profit groups.

PRAYERS AGAINST DRUGS

There will be a "Prayers Against Drugs" rally on Friday at 6 pm at the Courthouse Square in downtown Franklin for those who are interested in participating in the spiritual warfare against the epidemic of drug abuse in our community. Read more about it at http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/prayers-against-drugs-rally-scheduled.html





MARDI GRAS DINNER TO BENEFIT REACH OF MACON COUNTY

A Mardi Gras Dinner to benefit REACH of Macon County will be held at Root + Barrel Kitchen on Main Street on Tuesday, February 28th at 6:30 pm.
Reserved tickets are $75 and open seating is $60.
More information is on the flyer posted here.





Weather Extremes Almanac for February 1, 2017



North Carolina

High Temperature 83ºF in Laurinburg, Scotland County in 2002
Low Temperature -14ºF on Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 1980
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.50 inches in Highlands, Macon County in 1915
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 18.0 inches in Henderson, Vance County in 1948

Macon County

High Temperature 75ºF in Franklin in 1975
Low Temperature -5ºF in Highlands in 1900
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.50 inches in Highlands in 1915
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.3 inches in Nantahala in 1934


Astronomy


Twilight Begins: 7:06 am
Sunrise: 7:32 am
Sunset 6:02 pm
Twilight Ends: 6:29 pm
Day Length: 11 hours 22 minutes

Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent with 24% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated
Moonrise 10:25 am
Moonset 11:02 pm

Observing the Skies

Evening Events and Planets

Chart shows sky at 8:30 pm

tonight



Venus and Mars are the bright evening planets.

VENUS
Rises 9:33 am
Sets 9:38 pm
Brightness -4.4 Magnitude
Distance 0.536 AU
Constellation: Pisces

MARS
Rises 9:55 am
Sets 10:00 pm
Brightness 1.1 Magnitude
Distance: 1.854 AU
Constellation: Pisces



Morning Events and Planets

Chart shows sky at 4 am on Wednesday, February 2nd at 4 am




MERCURY
Rises 6:26 am
Sets 4:12 pm
Brightness 0.0 Magnitude
Distance 1.212 AU
Constellation: Sagittarius

SATURN 

Rises 4:29 am
Sets 2:14 pm
Brightness 1.4 Magnitude
Distance: 10.678 AU
Constellation: Ophiuchus

JUPITER
Rises 11:32 pm
Sets 10: 51 am
Brightness -2.0 Magnitude
Distance: 5.041 AU
Constellation: Virgo


Sky Guides for this week (Jan 27- Feb 4)

Sky and Telescope Magazine 
Astronomy Magazine



Earth Sky has an article on the eclipses of 2017. [LINK]

Heavens Above has an Android App that will assist you in observing the sky and even has a satellite tracker that will let you know when the International Space

Station and dozens of other satellites are overhead. [LINK]

Stellarium is also an app that will assist you in observing the sky. It is available in both Android [LINK] and iOS versions. [LINK]





CROWD FUNDING OR DAY SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month.

If you have a business or event you are interested in sponsorship opportunities or underwriting coverage, send an email to editor@MaconMedia.com for more information. Serious inquiries only.

Thank You to the people who have been sending in donations and those businesses who are underwriting coverage of news and events. You have kept Macon Media online.

You have made it possible for Macon Media to begin purchasing state of the art equipment and begin work on building a real website with features not employed by any local news outlets.

You can find out more information on how to do that and some of what I plan to accomplish if I reach certain levels of funding at >> https://www.patreon.com/MaconMedia

Published at 3:48 am on Feb 1, 2017

#WNCscan #MaconWx #MaconSafety


Be kind to one another.


Data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, and the Weather Prediction Center.