Dry high pressure will remain across the area before a moist storm system arrives from the west this evening and passes to the east on Friday. Widespread wintry weather will be possible with this system, with the best chances and most significant accumulations over the mountains and foothills. Canadian high pressure returns to the region over the weekend. Another low pressure system is likely to affect the area early next week.
News Highlights
• At 3:40am this morning, a Joint Session of the US Congress has certified the votes of the 2020 Presidential Election. The Presidential Ticket of Biden/Harris received 306 votes and the Presidential Ticket of Trump/Pence received 232 votes.
Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th US President on January 20, 2021.
Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the 49th US Vice President on January 20, 2020.
Of course, it was not a simple path from the opening of the Joint Session to the certification of all the Electoral College votes from all the states. Protesters stormed the barricades outside the US Capitol Building and entered the building through various entry points, including at least [one set of windows] that were broken.
• Macon Media posted a play by play of events as they unfolded with multiple links to video and accounts of what was taking place. [LINK]
A live stream from NBC News of the entire Joint session of the US Congress is embedded below.
How it Began (Video From WUSA-TV Channel 9)
U.S. Capitol Protest: Police Use Tear Gas, Flashbangs on Pro-Trump Rioters
• Breaking Video: Patriots Breach US Capitol, SHOTS FIRED [LINK] (The article at this link contains political opinion and a video where a woman is shot in the US Capitol Building)
During the occupation of the US Capitol Building by protesters, President Trump posted a video on Twitter that was later removed by Twitter. A copy was also posted on the [President's account] on the [Gab social media network] and a copy of that is embedded here.
• The North Carolina Coronavirus Taskforce held a briefing yesterday afternoon. [Play by Play] with texts of the [secretarial directive] advising North Carolina residents to take action to protect themselves and others from COVID-19, along with a series of [Frequently Asked Questions] to help people understand the directive.
• Macon County Schools announced more positive cases of COVID-19 in the school system. [LINK
• Franklin Town Council Meeting for January 2021 [LINK]
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General forecast through Saturday night
Franklin area
Today
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph by noon.
Tonight
Rain and snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Friday
Snow showers before 10am, then rain and snow showers likely between 10am and noon, then a chance of rain showers after noon. Widespread fog in the morning. Highs near 40. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Calm winds .
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Light winds out of the northwest
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Highlands area
Today
A slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Snow showers and freezing rain before 4am, then snow showers, then snow showers, possibly mixed with freezing rain after 5am. Widespread fog after 4am. Widespread freezing fog after 4am. Lows around 30. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Friday
Snow showers, possibly mixed with freezing rain before noon, then a chance of rain and snow showers between noon and 5pm, then a chance of rain showers, snow showers, and freezing rain after 5pm. Widespread fog before 7am. Widespread freezing fog before 7am. Highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Otto area
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the southeast 3 to 5 mph.
Tonight
Rain, possibly mixed with snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. WInds out of the east around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday
Rain and snow showers before noon, then a chance of rain showers. Widespread fog before 7am. Highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. WInds out of the northwest 3 to 5 mph.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. WInds out of the northwest 3 to 5 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s.
Nantahala area
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with highs in the mid-40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Rain and snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Friday
Snow showers likely before 11am, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 11am and 4pm, then a chance of rain showers after 4pm. Widespread fog before 7am. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Friday Night
A slight chance of rain showers before 7pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Light winds out of the northwest. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Light winds out of the northwest.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
HAZARDS
Hazardous weather is not expected today until the middle of the afternoon when rain/sleet and snow are expected to arrive. The roads in the higher elevations could be slick after some light snowfall overnight. Winter weather is expected over most of the county with forecast snowfall amounts between and inch or two at the lower elevations up to 8 inches or more above 4000 feet. Accumulations will be highly variiable due to most of the area being at or near freezing until later tonight. A copy of a winer storm watch that has been issued for locations above 3500 feet has been posted below.
Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
458 AM EST Thu Jan 7 2021
...WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY...
.A storm system moving from the Deep South through the coastal plain of Georgia and South Carolina will spread precipitation into the region from late this evening through Friday morning before tapering off late Friday. Sufficient cold air will be in place for mainly snow to fall across the mountains, with the exception of the lowest valleys of extreme southwest North Carolina. While precipitation is expected to initially fall as rain across the foothills and northwest Piedmont, cooling temperatures will support a transition to snow Friday morning, roughly along and north of I-40. Heavy snow accumulations will be possible in these areas before the precipitation tapers off, or changes back to rain Friday afternoon. While rain and snow are expected to be the main precipitation types, a brief period of sleet or freezing rain will be possible, especially from the Blue Ridge escarpment through the northwest Piedmont, but any sleet or ice accumulations are expected to be minor.
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT EST FRIDAY NIGHT ABOVE 3500 FEET...
* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, with up to 9 inches on the highest ridgetops and ice accumulations of a light glaze.
* WHERE...Mainly elevations above 3500 feet
* WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to midnight EST Friday night.
* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures falling into the 20s to around 30 on Friday night will cause slippery road conditions to persist well into the weekend following the storm.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
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.
COVID-19 Briefing
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.
Cases
1863 Detected
(+43 from Tuesday and +249 from last Wednesday and +829 in four weeks)
529 Active
(+3 from Tuesday and +114 from last Wednesday and +437 in four weeks)
1322 Recovered
(+40 from Tuesday and +135 from last Wednesday and +387 in four weeks)
12 Deaths
(unchanged from Tuesday and unchanged from last Wednesday and +3 in four weeks)
Testing
7914 by MCPH
(unchanged from Tuesday and +84 from last Wednesday and +562 in four weeks)
5509 by Others
(+331 from Tuesday and +394 from last Wednesday and +1113 in four weeks)
13423 total
(+331 from Tuesday and +478 from last Wednesday and +1679 in four weeks)
97 tests pending results
(-30 from Tuesday and +25 from last Wednesday and -48 in four weeks)
The Macon County Public Healthj did not send out a press release containing a Weekly Demographic Report yesterday as scheduled.
Air Quality
Air quality is in the upper range of green today for all elevations.
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be low (0.9 out of 12) with Mixed Trace being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be a little lower (0.3 out of 12).
Weather Extremes for Macon County for January 7th
Highest Temperature 70°F in Franklin in 1890
lowest Temperature -9°F in Highlands in 2014
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 3.119 inches in Highlands in 1946
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.0 inches in Franklin in 19886
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the Month of January
Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1999
lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands in 1985
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 5.10 inches in Highlands in 2018
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 14.0 inches in Franklin in 1877
TROPICAL WEATHER
(The North Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st to Nov 30th)
The North Atlantic Hurricane Season is over for the year. If anything does develop, the information will be posted in this section of the weather briefing.
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Published at 5:44am on Thursday, January 7, 2020
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