News and Weather Briefing for Saturday, July 24, 2021

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Local News
Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
On This Day
Support Macon Media

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OUTLOOK

Air quality should improve somewhat over the weekend while afternoon showers and thunderstorms increase in coverage and intensity through Monday. A backdoor cold front builds into the forecast area early next week, bringing more active weather at least through Tuesday.

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Local News

Macon County Board of Education, July 2021



For more information, visit [MaconMedia.com].

Macon County Board of Commissioners, July 2021



Supporting documents can be found at [MaconMedia.com]

Franklin Town Council - July 2021



Supporting documents posted online at [MaconMedia.com]

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Local Weather

National Weather Map for Today

General forecast through Monday Night


Franklin area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Areas of fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Sunday A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Sunday Night A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%. Monday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Chance of rain is 60%. Monday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Highlands Plateau

Today

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the mid-70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then a slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Sunday A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-70s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Sunday Night A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then a slight chance of showers after 3am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%. Monday A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. Chance of rain is 60%. Monday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s.

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Otto area

Today  



A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Areas of fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Light and variable winds. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then a slight chance of showers after 4am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.

Monday

A chance of showers before 9am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 9am and 1pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Chance of rain is 60%.

Monday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Nantahala area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Light and variable winds. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.

Monday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Partly sunny, with highs near 80. Chance of rain is 70%.

Monday Night

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Hazards and Tropical Weather

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK

Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Sat Jul 24 2021

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

1. Satellite data indicate that the low pressure system located about 150 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida, remains elongated and not well defined. In addition, showers and thunderstorms are currently limited near the low. However, environmental conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for development, and a tropical depression could form during the next day or two while the low meanders offshore or near the Florida peninsula. Interests in Florida should monitor the progress of this system.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...50 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...50 percent.

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Almanac

Air Quality

Air quality is in the upper range of yellow for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the lower range of orange.

Fire and Smoke Map
(There is haze from the wildfires out on the west coast.)

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (2.9 out of 12) today with Grasses, Plantain, and Nettle being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (3.1 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County on July 16th


Highest Temperature 95°F in Franklin in 1983
Lowest Temperature 44°F in Highlands in 1904
Greatest Rainfall 2.93 inches in Franklin in 1997
Greatest Snowfall (No snowfall recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)

July Weather Extremes for Macon County

Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on 07-29-1952
Lowest Temperature 34°F in Highlands on 07-27-1911
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on 07-29-1879
Greatest Snowfall no measurable snowfall has been recorded since records started being kept in 1872

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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)

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Katie Dean announces Macon Co. Townhall

Katie Dean is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 11th District. Katie is holding a Townhall on Thursday, July 15, 6pm – 7pm at the Big Bear Shelter [E. Main St. and Little Tennessee River].

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The Macon County Art Association (a not for profit member organization) is offering classes in encaustic painting on Specified Fridays from 10AM-12PM at the Uptown Gallery 30 E Main St Franklin NC. Specific class dates are Friday July 9 and 23, August 3 and 27, September 3 and 17, October 29.

For more information contact the instructor, Karen Smith, at karen@programservices.org

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National News Roundup

WeatherBrains 809: For God’s Sake Take Cover



Audio version and links to items discussed in podcast [LINKTEXT]

Level1News July 23 2021: 📎 It Looks Like You're Trying To Stay Relevant. Do You Want Help WIth That?



Best of Day 0 at the Tokyo Olympics: Opening Ceremony kicks off the Summer Games | NBC Sports (July 23rd, 2021)



ABC News Update: Naomi Osaka lights Olympic torch at opening ceremony Wildfires ravage west coast of the United States | DW News





NBC Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - July 23rd, 2021



PBS NewsHour full episode, July 23rd, 2021

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COVID-19 News and Updates

Since it looks like we may be in for a new wave of infections, here is a section on COVID-19. It will include local, regional, state, national, and global items.

Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant [New England Journal of Medicine]

Breakthrough Infections of SARS-CoV-2 Gamma Variant in Fully Vaccinated Gold Miners, French Guiana, 2021 [CDC]

SARS-CoV-2 spike P681R mutation, a hallmark of the Delta variant, enhances viral fusogenicity and pathogenicity [BioRxiv Preprint]

The Delta Variant Thrives in a State of Political and Public Health Discord [KHN]

Rick Dennison out as Minnesota Vikings assistant after refusing COVID-19 vaccine, sources say[LINKTEXT]

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On This Day

July 24th is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 160 days remain until the end of the year.



Historical Events

(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)


1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.

1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.
• [Wikipedia: Siege of Damascus]

1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle: King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf, the larget trebucht ever made.
• [Wikipedia: Warwolf]
• [Outlaw King: Siege of Sirlin] (dramatization of Warwolf in action)
• [Wikipedia: Sieges of Stirling Castle]
• [Wikipedia: First War of Scottish Independence]
• [World record trebuchet at Warwick Castle]
• [How to Build a Trebuchet | MythBusters]

1411 – Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland, takes place.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Harlaw]

1412 – Behnam Hadloyo becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Mardin.

1487 – Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer.

1534 – French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France.

1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her one-year-old son James VI.

1701 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which later becomes the city of Detroit.

1783 – The Kingdom of Georgia and the Russian Empire sign the Treaty of Georgievsk.
• [Wikipedia: Treaty of Georgievsk]

1814 – War of 1812: General Phineas Riall advances toward the Niagara River to halt Jacob Brown's American invaders.

1823 – Afro-Chileans are emancipated.

1823 – In Maracaibo, Venezuela, the naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo takes place, where Admiral José Prudencio Padilla defeats the Spanish Navy, thus culminating the independence for the Gran Colombia.

1847 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.

1847 – Richard March Hoe, American inventor, patented the rotary-type printing press.

1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Kernstown: Confederate General Jubal Early defeats Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the Shenandoah Valley.
• [Wikipedia: Second Battle of Kernstown]
• [NPS VIDEO: The Second Battle of Kernstown - July 24, 1864]

1866 – Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to Congress following the American Civil War.

1901 – O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio, after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.

1910 – The Ottoman Empire captures the city of Shkodër, putting down the Albanian Revolt of 1910.

1911 – Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas".

1915 – The passenger ship SS Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
• [Wikipedia: SS Eastland]
• [The Eastland Disaster: New look at 100-year-old tragedy]
• [SS Eastland Disaster – Terrifying last Moments on the Ship]

1922 – The draft of the British Mandate of Palestine was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations; it came into effect on 26 September 1923.

1923 – The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in World War I.

1924 – Themistoklis Sofoulis becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

1927 – The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres.

1929 – The Kellogg–Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect (it is first signed in Paris on August 27, 1928, by most leading world powers).
• [Wikipedia: Kellogg–Briand Pact]
• [HistoryPod Video]
• [Five Things You Should Know About the Paris Peace Pact]

1935 – The Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109 °F (43 °C) in Chicago and 104 °F (40 °C) in Milwaukee.
• [Wikipedia: Dust Bowl]
• [History Brief: the Dust Bowl]
• [Lessons from the Dust Bowl w/ Ken Burns (Live YouTube Event)]
• [The Dust Bowl - 01 - The Great Plow Up]
• [The Dust Bowl - 02 - Reaping the Whirlwind]

1937 – Alabama drops rape charges against the "Scottsboro Boys".

1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, and American planes bomb the city by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.

1950 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.

1959 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev have a "Kitchen Debate".
• [Wikipedia: Kitchen Debate]
• [Nixon vs. Khrushchev - The Kitchen Debate (1959)]
• [The Kitchen Debate and the Soda Pop Navy]

1963 – The ship Bluenose II was launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The schooner is a major Canadian symbol.

1966 – Michael Pelkey makes the first BASE jump from El Capitan along with Brian Schubert. Both came out with broken bones. BASE jumping has now been banned from El Cap.

1967 – During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"); the statement angered the Canadian government and many Anglophone Canadians.

1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
• [Apollo 11 in Real Time] (press the blue button)
• [Apollo 11 Splashdown: Celebrating 50 years, live stream]

1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

1977 – End of a four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.

1980 – The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level.

1982 – Heavy rain causes a mudslide that destroys a bridge at Nagasaki, Japan, killing 299.

1983 – The Black July anti-Tamil riots begin in Sri Lanka, killing between 400 and 3,000. Black July is generally regarded as the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

1983 – George Brett batting for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, has a game-winning home run nullified in the "Pine Tar Incident".

1987 – US supertanker SS Bridgeton collides with mines laid by IRGC causing a 43-square-meter dent in the body of the oil tanker.

1987 – Hulda Crooks, at 91 years of age, climbed Mt. Fuji. Crooks became the oldest person to climb Japan's highest peak.

1998 – Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.

2001 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office.

2001 – The Bandaranaike Airport attack is carried out by 14 Tamil Tiger commandos. Eleven civilian and military aircraft are destroyed and 15 are damaged. All 14 commandos are shot dead, while seven soldiers from the Sri Lanka Air Force are killed. In addition, three civilians and an engineer die. This incident slowed the Sri Lankan economy.

2012 – Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the city of Girkê Legê.

2013 – A high-speed train derails in Spain rounding a curve with an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit at 190 km/h (120 mph), killing 78 passengers.

2014 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 loses contact with air traffic controllers 50 minutes after takeoff. It was travelling between Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Algiers. The wreckage is later found in Mali. All 116 people onboard are killed.

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Published at 4:10am on Saturday, July 24, 2021

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