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Saturday, October 31, 2020

News and Weather Briefing for Saturday, October 31, 2020



OUTLOOK

Cool high pressure will build into the region today before a cold front moves across Sunday, ushering in chilly conditions Sunday night and Monday. Dry high pressure will then linger across the area through midweek.



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General forecast through Sunday night


Today Frost Advisory This Morning

Patchy fog before 9am. Patchy frost before 10am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s in the higher elevations ti near 60 in the lower elevations. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Halloween Night

A 20 percent chance of showers after 3am. Increasing clouds, with lows rasnging from the mid-30s in the higher elevations to the low-to-mid 40s in the lower elevations. Calm winds.

Sunday

Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs ranging from the lower 50s in the higher elevations to near 60 in the lower elevations. Light and variable winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

Sunday Night

Mostly clear, with lows ranging from the lower 20s in the higher elevations to the upper 20s in the lower elevations. Wind chills will be below 20 in most locations. Winds out of the northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Monday

Sunny, with highs ranging from the mid-40s in the higher elevations to the mid-50s in the lower elevations.

Monday Night

Clear, with lows ranging from near 20 in the higher elevations to near 30 in the lower elevations.




News Brief


This is the season to give to Toys for Tots. The Smoky Mountain Chapter is accepting donations. [LINK] Cowee Volunteer Fire Department will be holding a Benefit for Junior Firefighter Dakota Collins on Saturday, November 7th. [LINK]

The remnants of Hurricane ZETA passed through Macon County Wednesday leaving thousands without electrical service. Macon Media hosted an open thread on Facebook [LINK] and posted coverage of events as they happened. [LINK]


POWER OUTAGE REPORT
(prepared at 5:00am)

Neighboring States

GA 139,961
NC 70,885
SC 42,428
Neighboring Counties

Macon 1,003 (3.55%)
Rabun 5,628 (36.01%)
Clay 87 (0.91%)
Cherokee 170 (0.99%)
Graham 4 (0.06%)
Swain 31 (0.27%)
Jackson 109 (0.38%)

If you have to be out on the roads, please be careful and watch for trees on the roads and standing water. If you see downed lines, don't touch them or try to move them. Call 911 to report them if they are a hazard or in the roadway.
Call Duke Energy at 800.769.3766 or Haywood EMC at 828-452-2281 or toll free at 1-800-951-6088 where you will find a recorded phone greeting of any outages that may be in your area. If you do not hear your specific outage announced, please wait to speak with a customer service representative to notify us of your outage.

Rolling Rallay for Trump Scheduled for Today This will be the final Rolling Rally before Election Day on Tuesday, November 3rd

When: Saturday, October 31,2020 meeting at 8:30 a.m. to start decorating and roll out at 9:30 a.m.
Where: Starting point is Macon County Fairgrounds - 1436 Georgia Road Franklin, NC (across from Zaxby's)

Rally will be traveling to Maggie Valley to meet up with other counties as part of Operation MAGA. See the national website at https://www.magadragtheinterstate.com

Please respond by text preferably to John Shear! below. For more info contact him at 342-6289 and please leave name and phone number. The NC State Board of Election reminds us that voter intimidation is against the law [LINK

NCDHHS has issued guidance for Halloween activities during #COVID19. It's strongly recommended that alternate activities, instead of door-to-door trick-or-treating, take place. Find out which activities are considered low risk & which should be avoided: [PDF]  

NCDHHS Interim Guidance for Fall-Related Events [PDF

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


Cases

762 Detected
(+3 from Thursday and +24 from last Friday and +113 in four weeks)

26 Active
(-3 from Thursday and -9 from last Friday and -7 in four weeks)

729 Recovered
(+6 from Thursday and +33 from last Friday and +120 in four weeks)

7 Deaths
(unchanged from Thursday and unchanged from last Friday and unchanged in four weeks)


Testing

6446 by MCPH
(+58 from Thursday and +188 from last Friday and +676 in four weeks)

3086 by Others
(unchanged from Thursday and +280 from last Friday and +826 in four weeks)

9532 total
(+58 from Thursday and +465 from last Friday and +1502 in four weeks)

184 tests pending results
(+58 from Thursday and +1 from last Friday and +47 in four weeks)









HAZARDS


While hazardous weather is not expected today, hazardous conditions do exist in the county as power lines and trees and tree limbs are still down. If you see downed lines, don't touch them or try to move them. Call 911 to report them if they are a hazard or in the roadway. Call Duke Energy at 800.769.3766 or Haywood EMC at 828-452-2281 or toll free at 1-800-951-6088 where you will find a recorded phone greeting of any outages that may be in your area. If you do not hear your specific outage announced, please wait to speak with a customer service representative to notify us of your outage.

Frost Advisory
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
342 AM EDT Sat Oct 31 2020
...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EDT THIS MORNING...

* WHAT...The combination of temperatures in the mid 30s, clear skies, and light winds will result in frost formation.

* WHERE...The mountains and foothills of northeast Georgia and western North Carolina.

* WHEN...Until 10 AM EDT this morning.

* IMPACTS...Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.



Air Quality





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

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be low (1.7 out of 12) with ragweed and chenopods being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be bout the same (1.7 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County for October 31st

Highest Temperature 84°F in Franklin in 1950
Lowest Temperature 15°F in Highlands in 1917
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 3.30 inches in Nantahala in 1949 Greatest One-Day Snowfall 0.7 inches in Highlands in 2012




TROPICAL WEATHER
(The North Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st to Nov 30th)




Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Sat Oct 31 2020

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

1. A tropical wave located over the eastern and central Caribbean Sea is producing a concentrated area of showers and thunderstorms. This system is slowly becoming better organized, and conditions appear conducive for further development. A tropical depression is likely to form this weekend as the system moves westward across the central and western Caribbean Sea. Regardless of development, this system is expected to produce heavy rainfall across portions of the ABC islands and Jamaica through the weekend.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...80 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...90 percent.







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Published at 5:00am Saturday, October 31, 2020


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