News and Weather Briefing for 2020 Independence Day

OUTLOOK

Afternoon showers and storms will mainly stay confined to the higher elevations through the weekend. Low pressure is forecast to bring tropical moisture to the Southeast during the first half of next week, likely resulting in widespread showers and thunderstorms. A more typical summertime pattern is expected to return for the latter half of the week.



Air Quality



Air quality should be in the upper range of Green today for most of the county. The ridgetops will be the low-to-mid-range of yellow. People with moderate to severe respiratory problems should limit their time outdoors on ridgetops with an elevation above 4,000 feet.


News Briefing

Several Christians plan to gather at Speakers Corner this morning from 10am to 2pm. Bring a lawn chair and a mask. Details are in the flyer below.



The Town of Franklin is planning a fireworks display that will be launched from the Whitmire property. Details are online. [LINK]

The Franklin Town Council regular meeting for July 2020 will take place on Monday, July 6th at 6pm. Copies of the public agenda and the agenda packet are posted online at Macon Media. [LINK]

Forest Service encourages visitors to recreate responsibly [LINK]

Stay Food Safe this July FourtH [LINK]

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Exploring Water’s Environmental and Cultural Impact Coming to Franklin [LINK]

SpaceX Launches GPS III Satellite for the US Air Force [LINK]

Kids in the Kitchen: A Virtual Summer Camp [LINK]



Most Recent Local Government Meetings

The Macon County Board of Commissioners met on June 2nd. [LINK]

The Franklin Town Council met on June 1st. Members of the public and local media outlets were allowed in the town hall. [LINK]



General Forecast Through Sunday Night



Independence Day

A chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Patchy fog in the morning. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-to-upper 70s in the higher elevations to the mid-to-upper 80s in the lower elevations. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 5am, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the 60s. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5pm. Partly sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then a slight chance of showers between midnight and 5am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday

A 40 percent chance of showers after 11am. Partly sunny, with highs ranging from the lower 70s to the lower 80s.

Monday Night

A 40 percent chance of showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the 60s with a few locations in the higher elevations and isolated higher valleys dipping into the 50s.

Hazards

Isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms will develop across the mountains this afternoon. The main threats from these storms will be from cloud to ground lightning, locally heavy rainfall, and brief gusty winds.




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Tropical Weather
(The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th)









Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Sat Jul 4 2020

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

1. A small area of low pressure located about 400 miles west-southwest of Bermuda is producing some shower and thunderstorm activity. This system's low-level circulation has become better defined during the past several hours, and a tropical depression could form later today or Saturday evening while the system moves east-northeastward at about 15 mph. By Sunday night, however, environmental conditions are expected to become unfavorable for significant development to occur. Interests in Bermuda should monitor the progress of this system.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...40 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...40 percent.


End Daily Weather Segment

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Begin COVID-19 Update



Here are some numbers from the CDC, the NCDHHS, and the Johns Hopkins Dashboard. Macon Media prefers the Johns Hopkins Dashboard because the counts include those non-residents that are left out of the CDC and NCDHHS numbers.

The CDC website [LINK] reports 68,142 people in North Carolina are infected, 1,391 have died, and infections are widespread, the NCDHHS website [LINK] reports 70,241 confirmed cases from 999,293 targeted tests, and 951 hospitalized and 1,392 deaths in the state. The Johns Hopkins Dashboard [LINK] reports 70,262 people infected and 1,419 deaths.

North Carolina Coronavirus Map and Case Count [LINK] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/north-carolina-coronavirus-cases.html

Data from Macon County Public Health as of July 2nd and graph by Macon Media of data from May 30th to July 2nd [LINK]




Detected 286
Actives 129
Recovered 156
Deceased 1

Testing Data

MCPH Tests 3,058
Other Tests 871
Total Tests 3,929
Pending 368



Resources for Reliable Information about the Corona Virus (COVID-19) [LINK]



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Published at 5:00am Saturday, July 04, 2020