Daily Weather Briefing for Good Friday, April 14, 2017

NATIONAL OVERVIEW

...Warmer and drier trend for the Pacific Northwest by the weekend...

...Thunderstorms, possibly severe, along with heavy rain are forecast to spread from the central Plains to the Great Lakes ...

...Above normal temperatures will prevail from the central Plains eastward into the Appalachians...

Precipitation will decrease and temperatures will warm up across the Pacific Northwest as surface high pressure slowly builds into the region. This trend will be short-lived -- a low pressure system will develop over the Pacific Ocean and will track toward the West coast by the end the weekend. This will result in another round of showers, possibly mountain snow, by early next week.

Precipitation will spread across the Northern Rockies today as a cold front moves into the northern/central High Plains and is forecast to gradually taper off on Saturday. The southern portion of the front will pass through the Southern Rockies and into the Southern/Central Plains where it will interact with a moist and warmer than average airmass -- providing an ideal environment for thunderstorm development. Embedded areas of heavy rain will be possible and may lead to flash flooding. The Storm Prediction Center has a slight risk for severe storms along the front today over the Texas panhandle/western Kansas and from western Oklahoma to southern Iowa on Saturday. Please refer to the SPC Convective Outlooks for additional information on severe weather.

High pressure will be in place over much of the East this weekend. This will provide above normal temperatures over the interior sections. Persistent east to northeast wind in association with the surface high near New England will keep cooler air in place for areas east of the Appalachians.

LOCAL NEWS

A fire the US Forest Service is calling Muskrat #2 is currently burning close to the location where the Muskrat Fire burning last fall. The fire was last reported to be over 466 acres in rough terrain and, at last report the fire is 80% contained. Firefighters continued to expand and improve the fire lines and extinguish hot spots.

Please, if you have material you wish to burn outdoors, please put it off for a few more weeks.


LOCAL OUTLOOK

Our weather will remain under the influence of high pressure to our north and east through Sunday, keeping the area largely dry. Some isolated to scattered daytime showers and thunderstorms remain possible each day. Another weak cold front will settle the region Monday, bringing more widespread showers and thunderstorms. This front is expected to stall and keep unsettled weather in the forecast through Wednesday.

Weather Almanac for April 14th (1872-2016)

Record weather events for this date in Macon County

Highest Temperature 84°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1972
Lowest Temperature 14°F in Highlands in 1920
Greatest Rainfall 3.90 inches in Franklin in 1876
Greatest Snowfall 6.0 inches in Highlands in 1913



THREE DAY OUTLOOK




TODAY (outdoor burning is not recommended)

Patchy fog early. Mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s. The asphalt jungles may exceed 80. Calm winds in the morning, then increasing to come out of the southwest in the afternoon. 30% chance of showers, mainly in the afternoon hours with rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch expected.


TONIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows near 50 and calm winds. 30% chance of rain, mainly before 8 pm. Rain fall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch expected.



SATURDAY

Mostly sunny with highs near the upper 70s and calm winds early, rising to come out of the south in the afternoon.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows near the lower 50s and winds out of the south.



SUNDAY

Partly sunny with highs in the upper 70s and a slight chance of rain and thunder.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows in the lower 50s.


HAZARDS

No hazardous weather is expected. There is still an increased fire danger Due to Macon County still being in a Severe Drought. Outdoor burning is not recommended. The rain that is in the forecast for Wednesday won't even touch our situation. We will need several inches of rain over the course of weeks to recover.

The National Weather Service will be taking the regional weather radar offline for a few days around April 17th to install upgrades. The Public Information Statement follows:

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC


...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC RADAR SCHEDULED FOR UPGRADE DURING THE WEEK OF APRIL 17, 2017...

The weather radar used by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Greer, SC (KGSP) will be down for up to four days during the week of April 17, 2017. Technicians will install an important technological upgrade. The work on the WSR-88D radar has been scheduled to minimize any potential impacts to office operations and will be delayed if hazardous weather is forecast.

During the outage, radar coverage is available from adjacent radar sites including Columbia, SC (KCAE), Peachtree City, GA (KFFC), Morristown, TN (KMRX), Blacksburg, VA (KFCX), and Raleigh, NC (KRAX), as well as the terminal doppler radar at Charlotte, NC (TCLT).

A crew will install a new signal processor, which replaces obsolete technology, improves processing speed and data quality, provides added functionality, and supports IT security.

This is the first of four major upgrades, known as service life extension projects, planned in the next five years to replace and refurbish major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and to keep the radars operational into the 2030s. The $150M investment is being made by the three organizations that use these radars: the NOAA National Weather Service, United States Air Force, and Federal Aviation Administration. The other service life extension projects include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal, and equipment shelters.

The tri-agency Radar Operations Center, which supports the radars, estimates it will take about 10 months to upgrade the signal processor on all 159 operational WSR-88Ds.

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 in pdf format or a high quality photo, to editor@maconmedia.com
There is no charge for civic, educational or non profit groups.




APRIL 21 & 22

Franklin High School FFA Benefit Rodeo
Macon County Fairgrounds – 1436 Georgia Rd

Tickets available at the gate
$12 Adults
$6 Kids ages 5-10
Under 5 Free

Gates open at 6PM each night
Event starts at 8PM each night
Concessions available on site

Get there early for the best seating!

Saddle Bronc Riding
Bareback Riding
Calf Roping
Steer Wrestling
Ladies Breakaway Roping
Team Roping
Ladies Barrel Racing
Bull Riding

For more information, please visit the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1248793605202655/


SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

On January 1, 2017, the Syringe Exchange Program of Franklin began operating a comprehensive harm reduction program to address the opioid epidemic that is effecting western NC. Opioid overdose reversal kits including naloxone are available free of charge. If you have any questions about our services or if you know someone interested in volunteering, please contact Stephanie Almeida at 828-475-1920.



Astronomy


Twilight Begins: 6:36 am
Sunrise: 7:02am
Sunset 8:06 pm
Twilight Ends: 8:32 pm




Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous with 89% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Moonset 9:18 am
Moonrise 11:19 pm


Evening Events and Planets

Chart shows sky at 10:30 pm tonight




Morning Events and Planets

Chart shows sky at 4 am tomorrow morning



PLANET POSITION SUMMARY



Sky Guides for this week

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 4:22 am on April 14, 2017

#WNCscan #MaconWx #MaconSafety

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.