Daily Weather Briefing for Resurrection Sunday, April 16, 2017

NATIONAL OVERVIEW

...A slight risk of severe thunderstorms from Southern/Central Plains to southwest Missouri...

The central U.S. will be in a fairly active wet pattern over the next few days with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms spanning from the southern Plains to New England. One frontal system will track east-northeast -- with the northern portion lifting through the Great Lakes and Northeast while the southern flank stalls over the Midwest and Central/Southern Plains. Strong to severe thunderstorms, along with potentially heavy rainfall, is forecast to develop along the slow-moving boundary across the Midwest/Plains region. The Storm Prediction Center has a slight risk fore severe thunderstorms in effect today. The showers and thunderstorms over the Great Lakes, Ohio valley, Appalachians and the Northeast will mostly diminish by early Monday morning; however will linger over northern New England with portions of Maine changing over to snow as the system pushes offshore.

A second frontal system will push southward into the northern-tier states as surface high pressure drifts southward through Canada and will usher in rain and then eventually snow for portions of the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region. An approaching Pacific front will spread showers from the West Coast this afternoon to portions of the northern Great Basin and Intermountain West by tonight/early Monday morning. Snow will develop over the higher elevations -- over parts of Northern/Central California and Oregon this afternoon then becoming more widespread over the Northern and Central Rockies on Monday.


LOCAL OUTLOOK

Our weather will remain seasonable today, with warm temperatures and isolated to scattered showers over the mountains and foothills. A weak cold front will settle into the region late Monday, bringing increased chances of showers and thunderstorms. This front is expected to stall and keep unsettled weather in the forecast through Wednesday. Beyond that, afternoon showers and thunderstorms will highlight the forecast into next weekend.

Weather Almanac for April 16th (1872-2016)

Record weather events for this date in Macon County

Highest Temperature 86°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2006
Lowest Temperature 19°F in Highlands in 2014
Greatest Rainfall 4.31 inches in Franklin in 1956
Greatest Snowfall There has been no measurable snowfall recorded in Macon County on this date since records began being kept in 1872.



THREE DAY OUTLOOK




TODAY (outdoor burning is not recommended)

Partly sunny with highs in the mid 70s and winds 5 to 10 mph out of the south. 30% chance of rain showers, mainly after noon.


TONIGHT

Partly cloudy with lows in the lower 50s and winds out of the southwest calming before midnight. 30% chance of rain.



MONDAY

Partly sunny with highs in the mid 70s and calm winds early rising to come out of the west in the afternoon. 40% chance of rain with rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch expected. Locations that see thunderstorms may have higher amounts of rain.

MONDAY NIGHT

Cloudy with lows near the mid 50s and winds out of the west calming before midnight. 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms with rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. Locations that see a thunderstorms or two may see more rainfall amounts.



TUESDAY

Cloudy with highs in the mid 60s and variable light winds. 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

TUESDAY NIGHT

Cloudy with lows in the low to mid 50s. 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms.


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 the next few days 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: 6:34 am
Sunrise: 7:00 am
Sunset 8:07 pm
Twilight Ends: 8:33 pm




Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous with 75% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Moonrise 12:11 am
Moonset 10:41 am



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

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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 4:50 am on April 16, 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.