OUTLOOK
This is an abbreviated news and weather briefing.
A moist cold front will bring precipitation to the area, mainly this morning. As colder air spills in behind the front on northwest winds, snow showers are expected to develop across the mountains tonight into Monday before ending Tuesday. A gradual warming trend is expected to begin during mid-week before another cold front approaches from the west by the weekend.
News Highlights
• Lowering of NC Flags to Half-Staff Until Sunset January 30, 2021 in Honor of Chairman Freddie L. Carter Jr. of the Coharie Intra Tribal Council Inc. [LINK]
• Governor Cooper extended the Modified Stay at Home Order earlier this week, including the evictions moratorium and to-go and delivery sales for mixed beverages. These Orders are inteneded to help struggling families and businesses during the pandemic. [LINK]
• Keith Gill Drove the GameStop Reddit Mania. He Talked to the Journal. Trader known as DeepF—ingValue on the WallStreetBets forum helped turn the investing world upside down. “I didn’t expect this.” [CNET]
• GameStop short squeeze (this Wikipedia article is a good explainer article with lots of links to where you can find out even more information about what has happened and why this is happening [CNBC]
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General forecast through Tuesday Night
Franklin area
Today
Rain before 3pm, then a slight chance of showers after 5pm. Patchy fog before 11am. Highs in the lower 50s. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tonight
A chance of rain showers before 3am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around freezing32. Calm winds increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph before midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Monday
A chance of rain and snow showers before 4pm, then a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s. WInds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Monday Night
A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. WInds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 30s.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Highlands area
Today
Rain or freezing rain before 3pm, then a slight chance of rain after 5pm. Areas of fog. Highs in the lower 40s. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible.
Tonight
A chance of rain and snow showers before 1am, then a chance of snow showers after 2am. Patchy fog. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the west 5 to 15 mph shifting to come out of the northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday
A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 7am. Mostly cloudy, with highs near 30. Winds out of the northwest 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday Night
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with highs near freezing.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with low around 20.
Otto area
Today
Rain before 3pm, then a slight chance of showers after 5pm. Patchy fog before noon. Highs near 501. Winds out of the southeast 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight
A chance of showers before 1am, then a chance of showers after 2am. Patchy fog in the morning. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Calm winds increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday
A chance of rain and snow showers before 7am, then a chance of snow showers between 7am and 1pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Monday Night
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with highs near 40.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s.
Nantahala area
Today
Rain, mainly before 9am, then a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before noon. Highs near 50. WInds out of the south around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight
A chance of rain showers before 2am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, cloudy, with lows around freezing. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday
Snow showers likely, mainly after 3pm. Cloudy, with highs near freezing. Winds out of the northwest t to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday Night
A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. WInds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 10am. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-30s.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
HAZARDS
For this morning, brief periods of wintry weather, mainly sleet or freezing rain. Isolated very light accumulations will be possible on elevated surfaces such a bridges or overpasses until temperaturees rise above freezing later this morning.
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
433 AM EST Sun Jan 31 2021
...WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND RABUN COUNTY THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...
...WINTER STORM WATCH ISSUED FOR TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY FOR PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS...
.A storm system will push through the region today. This combined with cold temperatures will bring a wintry mix of accumulating snow, sleet, and freezing rain to portions of North Carolina and far northeast Georgia. Almost all areas will change to rain by midday Sunday.
The upper low associated with this system will bring the potential for periods of heavy snow to the North Carolina mountains, focused near the Tennessee border late tonight through early Tuesday.
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON...
* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation. Additional snow accumulations of up to 3 inches and ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch.
* WHERE...Portions of piedmont and western North Carolina.
* WHEN...Until 4 PM EST this afternoon.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet, and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep a flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Prepare for possible power outages.
Please report snow and ice accumulations by calling the National Weather Service toll free at...1...800...2 6 7...8 1 0 1. Leave a message with your observation and the specific location where it occurred. You can also post your report to National Weather Service Greenville Spartanburg Facebook or tweet your report using hashtag nwsgsp.
Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or your favorite source of weather information for the latest updates. Additional details can be found at www.weather.gov/gsp. The latest state road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1.
COVID-19 BRIEFING
• Governor Cooper extended the Modified Stay at Home Order earlier this week, including the evictions moratorium and to-go and delivery sales for mixed beverages. These Orders are intended to help struggling families and businesses during the pandemic. [LINK]
See the Biden Administration COVID-19 Plan [LINK]
COVID-19 in Macon County
Vaccine Appointments Being Rescheduled Due to Limited Supply
Due to inadequate supply of COVID-19 vaccine from NC DHHS, Macon County Public Health must reschedule first dose appointments. Those who have already scheduled appointments for their first dose of vaccine have been moved to the front of Macon County Public Health's COVID-19 Vaccine Wait List. Macon County Public Health will contact those on the waitlist as vaccine becomes available to reschedule your appointment. There are approximately 3,000 individuals on the Macon County Vaccine Wait List.
Macon County will be receiving 300 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state each week for the next three weeks. This number is based on population size in Macon County. We appreciate your patience in this unprecedented time. For questions, you can call 828-524-1500, Monday – Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Regardless of which group you fall under, you can register for the COVID-19 Vaccine Wait List at https://gis2.maconnc.org/VAX/VAX.html. When the group you fall under is eligible for vaccination, a member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center will contact you to schedule your appointment.
NCDHHS updates its website to reflect the current group eligible for vaccine. You can view the site at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations. Macon County Public Health will update its social media pages to alert the public when the state and county advance to the next group of vaccination. At this time, Macon County Public Health and NCDHHS are not scheduling individuals for vaccination in groups other than Groups 1 and 2.
At the January 25th school board meeting, Superintendent Dr Baldwin informed board members that 158 students and 22 staff out of school due to either being tested positive for COVID-19, or having to be isolated due to possible exposure.
NEW POSITIVE COVID-19 PUBLIC SCHOOL CASES (January 28th)
Franklin High School-2
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 April 17th. The health department has started releasing information about vaccine delivery, so those numbers will be included here also, as well as charted.
VACCINE DELIVERY
(note--these numbers are on the day reported, not necessarily given since some shots may be given after the daily report is published, or offsite vaccine clinics that may not be reported until the day after)
| Category | Mon 01-25 | Tue 01-26 | Wed 01-27 | Thu 01-28 | Fri 01-29 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaccines Given | 100 | 95 | 92 | 90 | 60 | 87.4 |
| Current Inventory | 120 | 230 | 140 | 50 | 0 | 108 |
| Total Vaccines Given | 2178 | 2273 | 2365 | 2455 | 2515 | Not Applicable |
Cases
2668 Detected
(+36 from Thursday and +169 from last Friday)
522 Active
(+9 from Thursday and -12 last Friday)
2128 Recovered
(+27 from Thursday and +181 last Friday)
18 Deaths
(unchanged from Thursday and unchanged from last Friday)
Testing
8741 by MCPH
+57 from Thursday and +261 from last Friday)
6998 by Others
(+31 from Thursday and +318 from last Friday)
15739 total
(+88 from Thursday and +579 from last Friday)
221 tests pending results
(-19 from Thursday and -59 from last Friday)
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Published at 5:120am on Sunday, January 31, 2021
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