Weather Briefing for Friday, January 8, 2021

OUTLOOK

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

Macon County Schools

• Franklin District will have a virtual day today
• Macon Early College will have a virtual day today
•Union Academy will have a virtual day today
• Nantahala District will have a virtual day today
• Highlands Disrict will have a virtual day today, no food services
• All Pre-K classes are canceled

• More positive COVID-19 tests were reported in the Macon County School System [LINK]

• Franklin Town Council Meeting for January 2021 [LINK]




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General forecast through Sunday night


Franklin area

Today

Rain showers and snow before 4pm, then a chance of rain showers. Patchy fog. Highs in the upper 30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Tonight

A chance of rain and snow showers before 8pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 8pm and 11pm. Patchy fog before 8pm. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Light winds out of the northwest.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Light winds out of the northwest.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 40s.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.

Highlands area

Today

Snow likely before 10am, then snow showers likely, mainly between 10am and 2pm. Patchy fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs near freezing. Winds out of the northeast 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable by noon. Winbs could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Tonight

Patchy fog before 7pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with lows in the 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 becoming light winds by noon.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday

Sunny, with highs near 40.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.

Otto area

Today

Rain and snow showers likely before 2pm, then a chance of rain showers between 2pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4pm. Patchy fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the north around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the north winds around 6 mph.

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest around 6 mph.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Sunday

Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 40s.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.

Nantahala area

Today

Snow showers likely before 11am, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 11am and 3pm, then a chance of snow showers after 3pm. Patchy fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Tonight

A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest winds around 6 mph.

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 20s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest winds around 5 mph becoming calm befoe midnight.

Sunday

Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.



HAZARDS

The National Weather has toned down their snowfall forecast for the whole region. So far, the temperatures have to been too high to snow an accumulating snow. We'll see if the snow that is falling in the higher eltitudes can cool down the air enough for us to have measurable snow in the Franklin area or not. Most of the snowfall will be above 3500 feet and to our east.

Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
416 AM EST Fri Jan 8 2021

...WINTER STORM TO IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THROUGH THIS EVENING...

.A storm system moving across Georgia and the Carolinas will maintain periods of precipitation across the region today, before tapering off this evening. Sufficient cold air will be in place for mainly snow to fall across much of the mountains, plus the North Carolina foothills and I-40 corridor through the Piedmont. Heavy snow accumulations will be possible in these areas. A wintry mix of rain, snow, and sleet will occur closer to the South Carolina border, with many of these areas changing to snow before the event ends.

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT...

* WHAT...Heavy snow. Additional snow accumulations mostly of 3 to 6 inches, with 8 to 10 inches possible on the highest ridges.

* WHERE...Most of the mountains and foothills of western North Carolina, from the eastern Smokies and Balsams northeastward.

* WHEN...Until midnight EST tonight.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures falling into the 20s tonight 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

1968 Detected
(+105 from yesterday and +928 in four weeks)

617 Active
(+88 from yesterday and +527 in four weeks)

1339 Recovered
(+17 from yesterday and +398 in four weeks)

12 Deaths
(unchanged from yesterday and +3 in four weeks)

Testing

8016 by MCPH
(unchanged from yesterday and +664 in four weeks)

5670 by Others
(+161 from yesterday and +1274 in four weeks)

13686 total
(+263 from yesterday and +1938 in four weeks)

169 tests pending results
(+72 from yesterday and +37 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 (0.3 out of 12) with Mixed Trace being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be a little lower (0.2 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County for January 8th


Highest Temperature 70°F in Franklin in 1965
lowest Temperature -7°F in Highlands in 2014
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 2.83 inches in Highlands in 1953
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 10.5 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1988

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 5:00am on Friday, January 8, 2020