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Thursday, February 3, 2022

Daily News and Weather Briefing for Thursday, February 3, 2022



Here is an index to assist you in moving from section to section within the article.

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


OUTLOOK

Expect a slow moving cold front to bring periods of rain and temporarily warmer temperatures today. After a lull this afternoon, rain will become widespread across the region tonight, and heavy at times. Dry and cool high pressure arrives behind the cold front Friday night. Low pressure moving up from the Gulf Coast will create a small chance of precipitation for our region by Sunday.


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Local Weather

General Forecast Through Friday Night



Franklin Area

Occasional showers. Patchy fog before noon. Highs in the upper 50s. Winds out of the south 3 to 7 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of rain is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tonight

Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. Patchy fog. Lows in the mid-to-upper 40s. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of rain is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday

Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with highs near 60. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday Night

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

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the lower 50s.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s.

Highlands Plateau

Today

Occasional showers. The rain could be heavy at times. Patchy fog before 1pm, then patchy fog after 4pm. Highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of rain is 90%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Tonight

Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. Areas of fog. Lows in the upper 40s. Winds out of the south wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of rain is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday

Showers, mainly before 10am. Patchy fog before 7am. Highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Winds out of the west 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of rain is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Saturday

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

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s.





Otto and South Central Macon County

Today

Occasional showers. Patchy fog before 2pm. Highs in the upper 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of rain is 90%. New raingall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tonight

Showers before 10pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm between 10pm and 11pm, then showers after 11pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy fog. Lows around 50. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of rain is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday

Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with highs near 60. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday Night

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

Saturday

Sunny, with highs near 50.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s.







Nantahala Area

Today

Occasional showers, mainly before 1pm. Patchy fog before noon. Highs in the upper 50s. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of rain is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tonight

Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. Patchy fog. Lows in the mid-to-upper 40s. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of rain is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday

Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. The rain could be heavy at times. Cloudy, with highs in the lower 50s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Friday Night

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

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s.





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Hazards and Tropical Weather

A Flood Watch has been issued for Macon County through tomorrow afternoon. A copy of the watch is posted below.

Flood Watch
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
1028 PM EST Wed Feb 2 2022

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.

* WHERE...Portions of northeast Georgia, western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina, including the following areas, in northeast Georgia, Habersham and Rabun. In western North Carolina, Graham, Haywood, Macon, Northern Jackson, Southern Jackson, Swain and Transylvania. In upstate South Carolina, Oconee Mountains and Pickens Mountains.

* WHEN...From Thursday evening through Friday afternoon.

* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- A cold front will move into the area from the west producing widespread rainfall across the area. Rainfall amount of 2 to 4 inches is expected which may cause localized flooding. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts. Please monitor the latest forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.




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Almanac







Air quality is in the lower range of yellow for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the lower range of yellow. due to smoke from several fires in the southeast.

Fire and Smoke Map


Local Air Monitor



Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low range (0.5out of 12) today with Juniper and Elm being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (0.5 out of 12).




Record Weather Events for February 3rd

Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)

Highest Temperature 75°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1989
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands in in 1917
Greatest Rainfall 3.23 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2016
Greatest Snowfall 6.0 inches in Highlands in 2013

Record weather events for January in Macon County

Highest Temperature 79°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 02-28-1996
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on 02-13-1899
Greatest Rainfall 6.37 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 02-13-1966
Greatest Snowfall 15.0 inches in Highlands on 02-14-1912

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




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




THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK


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Local and State News

• NC Rep. Madison Cawthorn files lawsuit seeking to block candidacy challenge [Asheville Citizen-Times]

• Asheville DJ back in hospital after kidney transplant [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]

• 36-year-old COVID survivor wakes from coma with message for others [WRAl-TV (Raleigh, NC) ]

• Raccoons are smart, adaptable animals [Sylva Herald]

• Canton may try vehicle tax again [Smoky Mountain News]

• Macon County Board of Commissioners - January 2022 Regular Meeting [Macon Media]

Franklin Town Council - January 2022 Regular Meeting



Asheville Citizen-Times COVID-19 Tracker [Asheville Citizen-Times]

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National and World News Roundup

Troop Deployments



• Full Press 02-02-2022 Conference by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby [C-SPAN]

• A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit [The WarZone]

• A church is suing after a town says it can give away free meals only twice per week [Nevada Public Radio]

FAA Administrator Message on Zero Tolerance Policy



• National debt surpasses $30 trillion for the first time [Microsoft News]

• Unruly Passengers [Dederal Aviation Administration]

FAA Administrator Message on Zero Tolerance Policy



• Queen Elizabeth II to mark 70 years on the throne [Yahoo! News]

• The controversy surrounding Whoopi Goldberg and her comments about the Holocaust [Poynter]

Global National: Feb. 2, 2022 | What’s next for Canada’s Conservative Party following O’Toole oust?



NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - February 2nd, 2021



PBS NewsHour Full Episode February 2nd, 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.





COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County: [November 18, 2021]



• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [World Health Organization]

Globally, as of 7:15pm CET, 2 February 2022, there have been 380,321,615 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,680,741 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 2 February 2022, a total of 10,040,766,359 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 7:15pm CET, 2 February 2022, there have been 74,500,060 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 880,580 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 28 January 2022, a total of 523,213,327 vaccine doses have been administered.

• Myocarditis Risk 17 Times Higher for Unvaccinated Patients Ages 12-30 Who Get COVID-19 Than COVID-Vaccinated Patients [Epic Research]

Dr John Campbell: Study confirms omicron reinfections



• What the Omicron wave is revealing about human immunity [Nature]

• U.S. Army begins discharging soldiers who refuse COVID-19 vaccine [Reuters]

• Will Omicron end the pandemic? Here’s what experts say [Nature]

• High Rates of Rapid Antigen Test Positivity After 5 days of Isolation for COVID-19 [MedRxiv]

• Coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A virus increased disease severity, impaired neutralizing antibody, and CD4+ T cell responses [Journal of Virology]

• Hospitalisation for COVID-19 predicts long lasting cerebrovascular impairment: A prospective observational cohort study [MedRxiv]

• 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]




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Science and Technology News Roundup

• Facebook is shrinking [Vox: recode]

• Starlink Premium Promises 500Mbps Download Speeds for $500/month [Make Use Of]

• Joe “just conversations” Rogan defends misinformation like a classic grifter [SOURCE]

• The teen tracking Elon Musk’s jet also does Jeff Bezos’ and 125 others: I can make ‘some kind of business out of this’ [CNBC]

• Nintendo music YouTuber who received 4,000 copyright strikes is closing their channel [VGC]

• ‘This is creating more loneliness’: The metaverse could be a serious problem for kids, experts say [CNBC]

• 12 Popular Websites From the 90s Still Up and Running [Make Use Of]

• A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit [The WarZone]


Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Level1 News February 2 2022: This Winter I Hear A Humming, More Fabs In Ohio



The Trouble with Tablets | Coder Radio 451



The Nuclear Revolution: How The Atom Changed The World | The Atom And Us | Timeline



The $13B casino of NFTs



ESXARG/MEU MAREX Amphibious Assault Demonstration



Who Wants to be a Satoshionaire Land of the Snow Edition | Jupiter Extras 83



All-In’s hijacked feed, Google’s earnings breakdown, Jason’s legendary iPad troll | E1376



Transplanting Pig Organs into Humans | TechnoLogic



Why the UK's IBM Failed







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On This Day

February 3rd is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 331 days remain until the end of the year (332 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)




1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.

1583 РBattle of Ṣo Vicente takes place off Portuguese Brazil - three English warships led by navigator Edward Fenton fight off three Spanish galleons sinking one in the process.

1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.

1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.

1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.

1716 – The 1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an Mw  7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria.

1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.

1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.

1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays' Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.

1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.

1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.

1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.

1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.

1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.

1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of seven lives.

1917 – World War I: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.

1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927 – A revolt against the military dictatorship of Portugal breaks out at Oporto.

1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a "Unification Conference" held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.

1931 – The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258.

1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.

1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.

1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.

1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.

1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.

1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.

1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.

1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa, an event later known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of "a wind of change", signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post.

1966 – The Soviet Union's Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.

1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.

1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.

1984 – Doctor John Buster and a research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the United States announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.

1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.

1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.

1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.

2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

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Published at 5:00am on Thursday, February 3, 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

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