Weather Briefing for Wednesday, October 21, 2020

OUTLOOK

Weak high pressure will continue over our region for most of the week, with a general southerly wind flow providing above normal temperatures. A cold front may approach the area early next week.








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General forecast through Friday night


Today

Areas of fog, dense in some places, before noon. Otherwise, cloudy through midmorning, then gradual clearing, with highs ranging from near 70 in the higher elevations to the upper 70s in the lower elevations. Calm winds.

Tonight

Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with lows in the 50s. Calm winds.

Thursday

in the morning. Otherwise, cloudy through midmorning, then gradual clearing, with highs ranginf from the upper 60s in the higher elevations to the mid-to-upper 70s in the lower elevations. Calm winds in the morning inceasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the 50s. Light winds out of the east.

Friday

A slight chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Partly sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-60s in the higher elevations to the lower 70s in the lower elevations. Light and variable windw. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with lows in the 50s. Chance of precipitation is 30%.



News Brief


The Franklin Police Department welcomed two new officers, Trey Chastain and Garrett Hovis, to the force. Photos can be seen on the Franklin Police Department Facebook Page. [LINK]

The NC State Board of Election reminds us that voter intimidation is against the law [LINK] 

News Item Added at 6:14am

Macon County Public Health Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

Macon County has identified that a fourth Macon County Public Health employee has tested positive for COVID-19. The employee is isolating at home and doing well. Close contacts of the employee have been notified and tested. The necessary steps to disinfect the affected area have been performed. Since March, Macon County has implemented strong infection control standards in all county facilities to protect employees and citizens.

These measures include:


• providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees who need it,
• limiting access to county building and congregate areas,
• implementing a health screening process for all employees, such as taking temperatures before work,
• assuring that employees who work in an office-based setting are maintaining social distancing measures,
• moving to appointment-based services and limiting walk-in services, and
• implementing teleworking agreements for some personnel to work from home (should their job allow).


Macon County Public Health is confident the risk of exposure for employees and citizens is minimal, and by implementing these measures, the county has been and will continue to provide services safely.

Community transmission is still occurring in Macon County, and MCPH encourages all individuals and organizations remain vigilant to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Macon County recommends that business owners consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on what employers and employees should do if they have been exposed to COVID-19. Macon County leadership is committed to remaining transparent with the public and encourages businesses to be open with the public as well. For more guidance about employee exposure, visit the CDC at: https://bit.ly/critical_workers.

It is important to make sure the information you are getting about COVID-19 is coming directly from reliable sources like Macon County Public Health, CDC, and NCDHHS. For more information, please visit the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus and NCDHHS’ website at www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus, which will also include future positive COVID-19 test results in North Carolina.

Macon County Public Health regularly updates our Facebook page with accurate and current information regarding COVID-19; we encourage the public to check our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MaconPublicHealth for up-to-date information.

Symptoms for COVID-19 are fever, cough, and other lower respiratory illness (shortness of breath). If you believe that you may have COVID-19, please call the Health Department at 828-349-2517. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am – 4:00pm, closing daily for lunch from 12:00pm – 1:00pm, until further notice.


Here are the latest COVID-19 Numbers and Demographics Report from Macon Public Health, along with a chart to show you the long-term trends since May 30, 2020, when the health department started releasing numbers to the public.

Cases

718 Detected
(+4 from Monday and +19 from last Tuesday and +119 in four weeks)

21 Active
(-2 from Monday and -11 from last Tuesday and -1 in four weeks)

690 Recovered
(+6 from Monday and +30 from last Tuesday and +118 in four weeks)

7 Deaths
(unchanged from Monday and unchanged from last Tuesday and unchanged in four weeks)


Testing

6136 by MCPH
(+5 from Monday and +168 from last Tuesday and +611 in four weeks)

2731 by others
(+4 from Monday and +285 from last Tuesday and +656 in four weeks)

8867 in total
(+9 from Monday and +453 from last Tuesday and +1267 in four weeks)

96 tests pending results
(+109 from Monday and +25 from last Tuesday and -89 in four weeks)

HAZARDS

Hazardous weather is not anticipated today.

Air Quality

Air quality is in the middle-to-upper range of green today for all elevations.

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be low-medium (3.1 out of 12) with ragweed, chenopods, and grasses being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to drop into the low range (1.7 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County for October 21st

Highest Temperature 85°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2016
Lowest Temperature 14°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1952
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 1.80 inches in Franklin in 1882 Greatest One-Day Snowfall (there has been snowfall recorded on this date since record-keeping began in 1872)