Here is an index to assist you in moving from section to section within the article.
Back to Top
Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
Special Section: Supreme Court January 13th Rulings on Vaccine Mandates
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
On This Day
Support Macon Media
OUTLOOK
A cold front will settle along the Carolina Coast and the stage for a surface low to develop across Georgia. As the low moves along the front, wintry precipitation is likely to develop Friday afternoon into Friday night. Cold and dry high pressure quickly builds in for the weekend and the first part of next week.
SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
**5:46am update** Nantahala School is now on a two-hour delay due to black ice and freezing rain.
Franklin area schools (late-breaking update at 5:10am)
Franklin area schools are on a two-hour delay for today, Friday, January 21st.
Highlands School
Highlands School will be on a two-hour delay today, Friday, January 21st. School will begin at 10:00 am. Please do not drop of students before 9:30 to insure access to the building and proper supervision.
In addition, buses will only pick up students at the following locations: Bus 6 will pick up students at Shortoff Baptist Church on Buck Creek Road at 9:00, and Clear Creek Baptist Church on Blue Valley Road at 9:25. Bus 109 will pick up students at the Scaly Mountain Fire Station on Hale Ridge Road at 9:25.
If you are not able to reach one of the pickup points or bring your child to school due to unsafe road conditions, please stay home and your child can attend and participate through remote learning.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
Weather Sponsor
Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.
Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC. Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC
All your masonry needs are available. Our phone number is 828.524.8545, the public is welcome, we’ll help you with your next project.
---END SPONSOR SEGMENT------
Back to Top
Local Weather
General Forecast Through Thursday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Cloudy, with highs in the mid 30s. Calm winds.
Tonight
A slight chance of rain and sleet before 7pm, then a slight chance of sleet between 7pm and 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 19. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Calm winds.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 16. Calm winds.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly after 5pm. Cloudy, with highs near 30. Calm winds. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 18. Calm winds. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Light and variable winds.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 17. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 8 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
A 20 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Cloudy, with highs in the mid 30s. Calm winds.
Tonight
A slight chance of sleet, mixing with snow after 8pm, then gradually ending. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 20. Calm winds. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Calm winds.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 18. Light winds out of the northwest.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 6 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s.
Nantahala Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of snow after 4pm. Cloudy, with highs in the mid 30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows around 19. Light and variable winds.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs near 40. Calm winds.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 19. Calm winds.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs near 40. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s.
Back to Top
Hazards and Tropical Weather
...PATCHY BLACK ICE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EARLY FRIDAY MORNING ON UNTREATED ROADWAYS... Runoff from light rain this past afternoon and additional snow melt, especially in normally shady locations, will leave behind wet spots that could freeze into patches of black ice on untreated roadways across the region late tonight and early this morning. Temperatures will remain below freezing throughout the day across the mountains, the foothills and western Piedmont of North Carolina, the Charlotte metro area, and the northern Upstate. Temperatures are expected to climb just above freezing across northeast Georgia, the western Upstate including Greenville and Anderson, and the lower Piedmont of South Carolina in the late morning to early afternoon. Temperatures will fall back below freezing around sunset.
Back to Top
Almanac
Air quality is in the upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the upper range of green.
Fire and Smoke Map
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the low range (1.2 out of 12) today with Juniper being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low range (2.4 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for January 21st
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 74°F in Franklin in 1890 Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands in in 1985 Greatest Rainfall 3.41 inches in Nantahala in 1954 Greatest Snowfall 4.5 inches in Highlands in 1983
Record weather events for December in Macon County
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on Dec 31, 1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on Dec 30, 1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.00 inches in Highlands on Dec 14, 1901
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on Dec 21, 1876
All-time record weather events for Macon County
Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on Jul 29, 1952
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on Jan 21, 1985
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on Jul 29, 1879
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 25.5 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station on Mar 13, 1993
Back to Top
Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Back to Top
Local and State News
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County: [November 15, 2021]
• Get free at-home COVID-19 tests [COVIDtests.gov]
• WCU Librarian Wins ‘I Love My Librarian’ Award [Smoky Mountain News]
• WNC childcare centers use state grant money to attract workers [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• State's deadliest jail: Buncombe has worst death rate, Citizen Times investigation shows [Asheville Citizen-Times]
• Lowering of U.S. and NC Flags to Half-Staff in Honor of Two Camp Lejeune Marines Killed in Onslow County [Macon Media]
• The Porch: Snakecharmer [BPR News]
• Snow business: Milk, bread and the economics of winter weather [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• NC man charged in Capitol riot agreed: No guns, no booze. He failed, prosecutors say. [Raleigh News and Observer]
Franklin Town Council - January 2022 Regular Meeting
Asheville Citizen-Times COVID-19 Tracker [Asheville Citizen-Times]
Previously:
• Special Section: Supreme Court Hears Vaccine Mandate Cases [Nacon Media (Jan 7th, 2022)]
The documents:
• In National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, the court blocked the federal government’s vaccine-or-test requirement for workplaces of 100 or more employees. [PDF of Opinion]
• In Biden v. Missouri, the court allowed the government’s vaccine mandate for workers at federally funded health care facilities to take effect nationwide. [PDF of Opinion]
• Fractured court blocks vaccine-or-test requirement for large workplaces but green-lights vaccine mandate for health care workers [SCOTUSblog]
• Who Decides, Redux? [The Volokh Conspiracy]
• The Supreme Court sunk Biden’s vaccine/testing mandate for private employers. What you need to know. [Poynter]
• Supreme Court blocks Biden Covid vaccine mandate for businesses, allows health-care worker rule [CNBC]
-->
Back to Top
National and World News Roundup
• SpaceX wins $102 million Air Force contract to demonstrate technologies for point-to-point space transportation [Space News]
• French lawmakers officially recognise China’s treatment of Uyghurs as ‘genocide’ [France 24]
• Court rejects “door opening” as a Sixth Amendment confrontation-clause exception [SCOTUSblog]
• First look: Biden inaugural to blanket airwaves today[AXIOS]
• Alaska Supreme Court upholds ranked choice voting and top-four primary [Alaska Public Media]
• Theodore Roosevelt statue removed from outside New York’s Museum of Natural History [Microsoft News]
• Hamtramck judge apologizes for berating elderly cancer patient over weeds [Detroit Free Press]
• Atlanta DA seeks special grand jury in Trump election interference probe [CNBC]
• 'I always be sneaky': Boise eight-year-old hides self-made book on library shelf [KTVB-TV (Boise, ID) ]
Global National: Jan. 20, 2022 | Doctor blamed for New Brunswick COVID-19 outbreak speaks out
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - January 20th, 2021
PBS NewsHour Full Episode January 20th, 2021
Back to Top
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.
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County: [November 18, 2021]
• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [World Health Organization]
Globally, as of 5:31pm CET, 10 January 2022, there have been 305,914,601 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,486,304 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 9 January 2022, a total of 9,126,987,353 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 5:31pm CET, 10 January 2022, there have been 59,138,083 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 830,334 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 23 December 2021, a total of 485,274,895 vaccine doses have been administered.
Dr John Campbell: Vaccination advice in the age of omicron
• High Rate of Asymptomatic Carriage Associated with Variant Strain Omicron [MedRxiv (PDF)]
• An American Airlines flight turns back over the Atlantic because of a passenger mask dispute. [New York Times]
• Monitoring COVID-19
[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
[Outbreak.info]
• CDC Releases Emergency Guidance for Healthcare Facilities to Prepare for Potential Omicron Surge [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
• COVID-19 case rates by county in 2021 [AXIOS]
Back to Top
Science and Technology News Roundup
• James Webb Space Telescope marks deployment of all mirrors [Space.com]
• https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/tom-cruise-movie-producers-sign-axiom-deal-for-space-production-studio.html [CNBC]
• Federal Reserve is taking the next step toward possibly launching a digital dollar [Microsoft News]
• YouTuber Accused of Crashing a Plane for Views. Now the Feds Are Investigating [The Drive]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Level1 News January 21 2022: Driving Miss Deer
Is Signal still SECURE?
Linux Action News 224
Saving Podcasting from Centralization | LINUX Unplugged 440
Back to Top
On This Day
January 21st is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 344 days remain until the end of the year (345 in leap years).
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.[8]
1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
2004 – NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
2011 – Anti-government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Four people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister's office.
2014 – Rojava conflict: The Jazira Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.
2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women's march, on Donald Trump's first full day as President of the United States.
2018 – Rocket Lab's Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.
Back to Top
Support Macon Media
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia
Published at 5:00am on Friday, January 21, 2021
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to the following websites or books: MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War. Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center. Back to Top
Posts
0 comments :
Post a Comment