Daily Weather Briefing for Saturday, August 5, 2017

LOCAL OUTLOOK

A cold front will become stationary from central Georgia to eastern North Carolina late today. This front will then return north as a warm front late Sunday and early Monday as low pressure passes from Texas across the Ohio Valley. The front will become stationary again across our region for much of the week, with deep moisture and periods of heavy rain likely.


WEATHER SPONSOR



Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing and public safety updates for the month. They have all your masonry products (block, mortars, tools), plus feature Belgrade Pavers and Sakrete Products. Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC.

Visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC/

Their phone number is 828.524.8545, all are welcome, let them help you with your next project.


Weather Almanac for August 5th (1872-2016)

Record weather events for this date in Macon County

Highest Temperature 93°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2006
Lowest Temperature 45°F in Highlands in 1985
Greatest Rainfall 4.54 inches in Highlands in 1901

Record weather events for August in Macon County

Highest Temperature 99°F in Franklin on Aug 9, 1980
Lowest Temperature 40°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on Aug 29, 1968
Greatest Rainfall 9.68 inches in Highlands on Aug 13, 1940


THREE DAY OUTLOOK



TODAY

Patchy fog in the morning sunny with highs in the lower 80s and winds out of the northwest. Less than a 10% chance of rain in the county today.

TONIGHT

Mostly clear with lows in the mid to upper 50s and light winds out of the north.




SUNDAY

Patchy fog in the morning. Mostly sunny with highs in the lower 80s. Calm winds in the morning, then from the south in the afternoon. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms early, increasing to 40% by 6 pm.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows near the mid-60s. Winds out of the south near sunset are expected to become calm before midnight.



MONDAY

Cloudy with highs near the mid to upper 70s. Rain showers and thunderstorms are likely, with rainfall expected to be heavy at times. Rain chances will increase as the day wears progresses.

MONDAY NIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows in the mid-60s. Showers are likely and may be heavy at times with an occasional embedded thunderstorm possible.

HAZARDS

Hazardous weather is not expected today. A prolonged rain event is expected to begin on Monday that may last until Wednesday.

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



TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK

We are now in the time frame of where storms that develop in the Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Basin could impact our view of the solar eclipse on August 21st.

Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2017

For the North Atlantic...The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

1. Showers and thunderstorms extending from the Cabo Verde Islands southwestward across the tropical Atlantic are associated with an elongated area of low pressure. This system remains poorly organized, but environmental conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for this system to consolidate, and a tropical depression could form early next week while it moves toward the west-northwest at 15 to 20 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...50 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...80 percent.

2. A tropical wave is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the south-central Caribbean Sea. The wave is moving westward at 15 mph and development, if any, during the next day or two will likely to be slow. Conditions could become a little more favorable for tropical cyclone formation early next week if the disturbance moves over the southern Bay of Campeche. There is also a possibility that the wave moves over Central America, and in that case, no development is anticipated.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...20 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...50 percent.


ECLIPSE EVENTS (events listed here are paid sponsorships)

RABUN COUNTY

Rabun County, Georgia has a county-wide “Outasight” eclipse viewing party planned for August 21st at the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School. More information may be found at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/georgias-total-solar-eclipse-outasight-viewing-party-at-rgns-tickets-36172624293

Other events happening in and near Rabun County the weekend of the eclipse can be found on the Explore Rabun website at http://explorerabun.com/events-happening-total-solar-eclipse-rabun-county-georgia/

BRYSON CITY ECLIPSE WEEKEND

Bryson City invites you to a weekend of celebrating the eclipse. To find out more information, visit their page at https://www.greatsmokies.com/2017eclipse.html

Bryson City is recommended by TravelChannel.com as the spot in North Carolina to watch the eclipse.


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. If you want text published, please include a paragraph with your photo, flyer or graphic. Please include date(s) and time(s).
There is no charge for civic, educational or nonprofit groups, except for groups or events that receive funding from the TDA, TDC, and EDC, where full rates apply.

Wednesday, August 2nd

7:00 p.m. in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room- "A Trip to the Moon and Beyond: The fantastical science fiction silent films of George Melies"
Each short film will be presented with a LIVE soundtrack featuring musicians Tyler Kittle and Michael Libramento.

Free and open to the public.



September 27th, WEDNESDAY

HOSPICE HOUSE FOUNDATION OF WNC

PEACEFUL JOURNEY
3rd annual charity dining event
hosted by RISTORANTE PAOLETTI at 440 Main Street in Highlands

For information, visit http://hhfwnc.org/peaceful-journey/


National Alliance on Mental Illness
Appalachian South

Meets each Thursday at 7pm
The First Methodist Church Outreach Center
at the intersection of Harrison Ave. and West Main Street
(directly across from Lazy Hiker Brewery)

Come join our weekly support group for anyone suffering from mental illness and their family or friends. This includes Depression, Bipolar,8chizophrenia, PTSD, Substance Abuse, Etc.

Here you will find:
— others living with mental health challenges YOU ARE NOT ALONE
- learn coping skills and ?find hope in shared experience
- help learning how to break down stigma and guilt surrounding mental health
- how to live life with the expectation of a better a better future

Kay (706)970-9987 Denise (828)347-5000)

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 impacting 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.



Sun and Moon

Sun

Begin civil twilight 6:18 a.m.
Sunrise 6:46 a.m.
Sun transit 1:39 p.m.
Sunset 8:33 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:00 p.m.

Moon

Moonset 4:48 a.m.
Moonrise 7:09 p.m.
Moon transit 12:24 a.m. Sunday morning
Moonset 5:40 a.m. Sunday morning

Closest Primary Moon Phase: Full Moon on August 7, 2017 at 2:11 p.m. (local daylight time)

Phase of the Moon on August 4, 2017: Waxing Gibbous with 96% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
The next New Moon will occur during a total solar eclipse at 2:36:40 pm on August 21, 2017.


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

I will be posting an August Update in the next few days on our patreon campaign, which has reached 25 people who have pledged $294. Payout is on August 6th.

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. Macon Media rewards early sponsors/underwriters with lifetime guaranteed low rates while newer sponsors/underwriters pay higher rates based on the date they first support Macon Media.

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 4:28 am on August 5, 2017

#WNCscan #MaconWx #MaconSafety

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, 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.