OUTLOOK
This is an abbreviated news and weather briefing.
A cold and deep upper level disturbance will linger near our region through today, producing snow showers in the mountains near the Tennessee border. This disturbance will slowly move out to the east on Wednesday as dry and somewhat warmer weather is expected midweek. Expect a strong cold front to arrive this weekend bringing a return to colder temperatures.
News Highlights
• UPDATE Franklin District schools are on a Remote Learning Schedule today.
< br /> • Nantahala School is on a two-hour delay (Monday, Feb 1st) due to the forecast of freezing fog. If they decide to go to a Virtual Day, it will be announced on their[Facebook Page]
• As of 4:30am, when this was published, there was no word about the Franklin and Highlands School District. Updates will be posted once they make a decision. An update thread is being curated on Facebook [LINK]
• The Franklin Town Council met last night at 6pm. [LINK]
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General forecast through Thursday Night
Franklin area
Today
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 8am. Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Light and variable winds. Thursday Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-50s. Thursday Night A 50 percent chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
Highlands area
Today
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 8am. Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Light and variable winds. Thursday Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-50s. Thursday Night A 50 percent chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
Otto area
Today
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest winds 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest winds around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight. Thursday Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Thursday Night A 50 percent chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
Nantahala area
Today
A 40 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 9am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight Partly cloudy, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s. Light and variable winds. Thursday Partly sunny, with highs near 50. Thursday Night A 50 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
HAZARDS
Snow has fallen overnight and area roads may be a little slick, so, if you don't have to be out until later this morning, stay put. The NCDOT is out treating the roads and it will take time to get to them all. Nantahala (especially the higher elevations in western Macon County) will see some additional snowfall today. Some locations could see an additional 4 to 7 inches of snow by noon. Most of the county will continue so see blusterly wind conditions today into Wednesday. As a result, bitterly cold and dangerous wind chills may develop in some locations again Wednesday morning, particularly at high elevations.
COVID-19 BRIEFING
Episode #41 Osterholm Update COVID-19: Surrender is Not an Option (January 28, 2021 update)
In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss the issue of opening schools, updates on variants of concern, and more news on vaccines and their distribution.
Email us your questions: [OsterholmUpdate@umn.edu]
• Governor Cooper extended the Modified Stay at Home Order last 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)
Iotla Valley School-1
Franklin High School-3
Highlands School-1
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)
Vaccines Given Monday 0
Current Inventory Monday 0
Total Vaccines Given 2515
Last Week
| 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 |
COVD-19 Known Cases and Testing
Cases
2719 Detected
(+51 from Friday and +176 from last Monday and +944 from four weeks ago)
528 Active
(+6 from Friday and -5 last Monday and -13 from four weeks ago)
2173 Recovered
(+45 from Friday and +181 last Monday and +951 from four weeks ago)
18 Deaths
(unchanged from Friday and unchanged from last Monday and +6 from four weeks ago)
Testing
8780 by MCPH
+39 from Friday and +242 from last Monday and +866 from four weeks ago)
7175 by Others
(+177 from Friday and +475 from last Monday and +1997 from four weeks ago)
15955 total
(+216 from Friday and +717 from last Monday and +2863 from four weeks ago)
245 tests pending results
(+24 from Friday and -74 from last Monday and +92 from four weeks ago)
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Published at 4:30am on Tuesday, February 1, 2021
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