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Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
Russo-UKrainian War Updates
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
On This Day
Support Macon Media
GENERAL OUTLOOK
Showers will be possible across the mountains through Tuesday as a weak front drops into the area. The front will lift back north as a warm front on Wednesday with temperatures continuing to warm. A strong upper ridge will dominate through Thursday with near or above monthly record highs forecast Thursday afternoon as temperatures soar into the 70s to low 80s. Mountain showers will be possible again Thursday into Friday with a strong cold front sweeping into the area by Friday morning. Rain chances return across much of the area this weekend with seasonably cool temperatures, especially on Saturday.
Saturday March 4th chilli cook off at the community building 2 to 4pm. $5 entry fee to come in and taste chilli and vote for your favorite. All proceeds go to helping a child go to gymnastics camp this summer with her team mates.
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Thursday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers before 9am. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s. Calm winds becoming south around 5 mph after midnight.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 70s. Winds out of the south 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Thursday
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 50.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Partly sunny, with highs near 60. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers after 9pm. Patchy fog between 3am and 5am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with lows in the lower 50s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph shifting to come out of the southwest after midnight.
Wednesday
A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Windy, with winds out of the south 20 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph.
Thursday
A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 70s.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 50.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight
A slight chance of showers between 11pm and 4am. Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds increasing to come out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Chance of rain is 20%.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with highs near 70. Winds out of the south 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Breezy, with winds out of the southwest 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Thursday
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 70s.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s.
Nantahala Area
Today
Partly sunny, with highs near 60. Winds out of the west 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s. Light and variable winds.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 60s. Winds out of the southwest 10 to 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Winds out of the south 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40mph.
Thursday
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 70s.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Hazardous weather is not expected today. A warming trend is expected as a preview of spring.
Latest US Drought Monitor Map for North Carolina.
Space Weather Is it a Fizzle? | Informal LIVE Solar Storm Briefing: 20 February 2023
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Almanac
24 Hour Smoke Forecast
No known appreciable smoke field will be crossing Macon County today or tonight.
PM2.5 AQI is 45 (GOOD) for most of the county, and the ridges and other higher elevations PM2.5 AQI is 45 (GOOD)
Fire and Smoke Map
Local Air Monitor
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (8.8 out of 12) today with Elm, Juniper, and Alder being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (8.2 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for February 21st
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 75°F in Franklin in 1986
Lowest Temperature -5°F in Highlands in 1896
Greatest One-Day Rain 3.81 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1953
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 5.5 inches in Highlands in 1960
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of February Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 79°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 01-28-1996
Lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands on 02-13-1899 (also a state record)
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
Record Weather Events for February 21st in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 82°F in Cedar Island, Carteret County in 2018
Lowest Temperature -8°F in Banner Elk, Avery County in 2015
Greatest Rainfall 5.84 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County in 1953
Greatest Snowfall 8.0 inches in Belhaven, Beaufort County in 1936
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of February Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 88°F in New Bern, Craven County on 02-28-1962
Lowest Temperature -20°F in Brevard, Transylvania County on 02-17-1958
Greatest Rainfall 8.83 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 02-13-1966
Greatest Snowfall 24.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 02-12-1985
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
Pancake Supper
Maiden's Chapel Church (located at 230 Maiden's Chapel Road) will host a pancake supper on Tuesday, February 21st from 5-7 p.m. Donations will be accepted for the church.
Macon County Board of Commissioners Meeting
The February 2023 Regular Meeting of the Macon County Board of Commissioners. Meeting begins at 6pm in the commissioners boardroom on the third floor. Access after 5pm will be through the back entrance to the courthouse. • Agenda Released for February 21, 2023 Macon County Board of Commissioners Meeting [Macon Media]
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
NC Reads Discussion Viewing at the Macon County Public Library
Wed, Feb 22, 6:30 PM in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room – Carolina Built with Kianna Alexander Join NC Humanities for an interactive panel discussion examining themes from this month’s NC Reads selection. This panel will explore the story based on the life and legacy of Josephine N. Leary, an African-American entrepreneur and business woman who lived in North Carolina during the Reconstruction Era. Visit the library to borrow the book, or use Libby and your library card to read the ebook or audiobook.
(You can also view the Zoom panel at home by visiting https://nchumanities.org/program/north-carolina-reads/ to register)
Thursday, February 23, 2023,
Yoga at the Macon County Public Library
Meet in the Living Room for an all levels vinyasa flow yoga class as we move mindfully through the body with the breath to create a deep sense of calm and relaxation, releasing tension, stress and anxiety.
Please bring a mat and plan to arrive by 5:55 p.m. before the doors lock at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday March 4th
Chili Cook Off at the community building 2 to 4pm
$5 entry fee to come in and taste chili and vote for your favorite. All proceeds go to helping a child go to gymnastics camp this summer with her team mates. Contact sgors.sg@gmail.com for more information.
Contra Dance at the Library
6:30 - 9:00 p.m. in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room
Join an enthusiastic group of musicians and dancers every first Saturday of the month, with beginners’ lessons at 6:30. Suggested donation, $10 per person helps to pay the musicians and callers for their travel and expertise. Contra dances are hosted and organized by the Arts Council of Macon County.
No events have been submitted for Macon Calendar.
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Local and State News
• Agenda Released for February 21, 2023 Macon County Board of Commissioners Meeting [Macon Media]
• 'Please come home,' Missing Macon County man's family desperate for answers [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• George Ellison, long-time naturalist, author, Citizen Times columnist, dies at 81 [Asheville Citizen-Times]
• State services strained as NC struggles to hire government workers [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• Nantahala and Pisgah Forest final plan released [BPR]
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National and World News Roundup
US President Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of Ukraine war anniversary | BBC News
• Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Kyiv in Show of Support for Ukraine [WSJ (video and audio)] [WSJ (article archive)]
• Rattled by China, U.S. and allies are beefing up defenses in the Pacific [Washington Post]
Turkey-Syria earthquake ripped huge chasm in what was once an olive field near Antakya | ITV News
• What’s So Special About 2% Inflation? [CNBC (on Youtube)]
• Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe out at right-wing org [AP News]
• ‘I realized that my country was doing something wrong’: Nearly 22,000 Russians have tried to enter the US since Putin’s war draft [CNN]
• George Santos tells Piers Morgan: I've been a terrible liar [BBC News]
• Panic as Turkey, Syria rocked again by 6.3M earthquake [Reuters]
• Investors Worry Too-Hot Economy Will Put Fed on More Aggressive Rate Path [WSJ (video and audio)] [WSJ (article archive)]
• The 2022 Long-Term Budget Outlook (July 2022) [Congressional Budget Office ] [PDF Download]
Washington Today (2-16-23): President Biden says latest sky objects likely not Chinese spy crafts| C-SPAN RADIO
Why is Japan Fortifying its Small Islands, and why is it such a big deal? | Foreign Correspondent
Global National: Feb. 20, 2023 | Turkey, Syria under renewed stress after 2 new earthquakes
Nightly News Full Broadcast (February 20th)
PBS NewsHour full episode, (February 20, 2022
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COVID-19 News and Updates
Here is a section on COVID-19. It includes local, regional, state, national, and global items.
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County:
• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [World Health Organization]
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 7:34pm CET, 14 February 2023, there have been 101,496,168 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,103,936 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 27 January 2023, a total of 661,064,315 vaccine doses have been administered.
Globally, as of 7:34pm CET, 14 February 2023, there have been 756,135,075 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,841,152 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 31 January 2023, a total of 13,168,935,724 vaccine doses have been administered.
What Happens When the Public Health Emergency Ends on May 11th, 2023 | MedCram - Medical Lectures Explained CLEARLY
• Long Covid Is a Disability. Here’s How to Ask for Workplace Accommodations. [ WSJ (audio/video) ] [ WSJ (article archive) ]
• TWiV 985: Bambi’s revenge [Microbe TV]
• TWiV 984: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin [Microbe TV]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• Radioactive isotopes reach Earth by surfing supernova blast waves, scientists discover [University of Hertfordshire]
• Review and viability of a Dyson Swarm as a form of Dyson Sphere [Physica Scripta]
• Harnessing plant molecules to harvest solar energy [Tech Xplore]
• Filmmakers Request Identities of Reddit Users to Aid Piracy Lawsuit [Torrent Freak]
• Forget Milk and Eggs: Supermarkets Are Having a Fire Sale on Data About You [The Markup]
• Z-Library returns, aims to avoid seizures by giving each user a secret URL [ARS TECHNICA]
Evergreen Links
• Red Dead Online player bids farewell to Google Stadia save by releasing horse they named after their departed daughter [Games Radar]
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History 69 - Twilight of the Æsir
Hardcore History: AddendumEP24 Manifesting the Muse with Rick | Dan Carlin
• Neal Stephenson’s Lamina1 drops white paper on building the open metaverse [Venture Beat] [PDF of White paper]
• Yes, the Great Books Make Us Better People [New York Times]
How Do We Know What We Know? Philosophy of Science | Fraser Cain
Podcasts and Long Form Videos (History, Culture, Science, Space, Technology and Current Events)
Anything covering educational, entertainment, history, current events, and technology topics
What is Plaguing Google? | TWiT-TV
The Level1 Show February 21 2023: Bigfoot's Big Battle | Level1Techs
Let's All Find Out Together - DTNS 4460 | Daily Tech News Show
NASA’s Next-Generation Spacesuits — A Behind-The-Scenes Look | CNBC
Nobody Knows Who Built This Ancient Observatory | Joe Scott
Defeat and Hope? - Most Anticipated Games of 2023 - Featuring Wolfpack345 | Single Malt Strategy: 77
ChatGPT Has A Serious Problem | ColdFusion
Meta's paid tier, Bing's chatbot gone wild, Stripe's $4B bill | This Week in Startups E1681
It was fun while it lasted | TechLinked
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Special Section: The Russo-Ukrainian War
(sharing of a particular source is not an endorsement)
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 20 [Institute for the Study of War] [PDF for February 20th]
• Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 362 [Al Jazeera]
• LIVEBLOG: Day 362 of Russian aggression against Ukraine [TVP World]
• Russo-Ukrainian War. Day 362: Russia can use up to a hundred missiles on February 22-24 [Euromaiden Press]
• Biden’s Surreal and Secretive Journey Into a War Zone [New York Times]
• U.S. President Joe Biden has arrived in Poland [TVP World]
• How the US reacted to Biden’s visit to Ukraine [Al Jazeera]
• War in Ukraine tests long-standing neutrality of some European nations [France 24]
• Biden in Ukraine: How the president's surprise visit was kept a secret [BBC News]
• Wagner founder: Russia denying ammunition to its own mercenaries [Jerusalem Post]
President Biden offers “unwavering support” on surprise visit to Ukraine | BBC News
Biden in Kyiv: 'America stands with you and the world stands with you' | DW News
Biden Visits Ukraine, US Takes Casualties in Syria | Combat Footage Review
Message to Moscow: Biden's surprise wartime visit to Kyiv | FRANCE 24 English
title
DEVASTATING BATTLES North of Bakhmut - Ukraine War Map Update 19/02/2023 | Ukraine Matters
Russia's Grand Strategy and Ukraine - Is Putin's war already a strategic failure? | Perun
News from Russian or pro-Russian outlets or Video About the Russian Perspective
• Macron wants Russia defeated but not ‘crushed’ [Russia Today]
• Russia changes four out of five military district commanders in six months [Pravda]
• DPR head announces improvement of Russian forces’ positions near Artyomovsk [TASS' Russian News Agency]
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On This Day
February 21st is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 313 days remain until the end of the year (314 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)
452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.
1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
1797 – A force of 1,400 French soldiers invaded Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists.
1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (e.g. Finland) to Russia.
1828 – Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah.
1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
1866 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor becomes the first American woman to graduate from dental school.
1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
1878 – The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
1896 – An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
1918 – The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
1919 – German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.
1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution.
1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup.
1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops.[2]
1934 – Augusto Sandino is executed.
1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.
1945 – World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front.
1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".
1952 – The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1958 – The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated while giving a talk at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.
1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
1972 – United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations.
1972 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people.
1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
2013 – At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad.
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Published at 5:00am on Tuesday, February 21, 2023
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.
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