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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
Dry high pressure continues over the southeast and persists through most of the week. High pressure moves eastward by mid week creating a southerly flow with warmer temperatures by the end of the week. A cold front should approach the area by the weekend, increasing rain chances.
Spring begins today at 5.24pm. Tomorrow will be the first full day of spring.
• March Equinox Fun Facts [Old Farmer's Almanac]
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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
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Wednesday Night
Franklin Area
Today
Sunny, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to copme out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph decreasing to light winds after midnight.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 60s.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 40s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 40s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Increasing clouds, with lows in the mid 20s. Light and variable winds.
Tuesday
Increasing clouds, with highs near 50. Calm winds early in the mornming increasing to come out of he southeast 5 to 10 mph by midmorning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 40s.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Sunny, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Increasing clouds, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Increasing clouds, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds early in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with highs near 60.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 40s.
Nantahala Area
Today
Sunny, with highs near 50. Calm winds.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows in the upper 20s. Calm winds.
Tuesday
Increasing clouds, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds early in the morning increasing to come lo come out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
A 20 percent chance of rain after 11am. Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 50s.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 40s.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Hazardous weather is not expected today.
Latest US Drought Monitor Map for North Carolina.
Space Weather Mystery Farside Blast and Earth-Directed Storms Launch | Solar Storm Forecast: 14 March 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 levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (8.3 out of 12) today with Maple, Juniper, and Oak being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (8.2 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for March 20th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 83°F in Franklin in 1968
Lowest Temperature 14°F in Franklin in 1956
Greatest One-Day Rain 2.61 inches in Highlands in 1901
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.0 inches in Highlands in 1915 (also a state record)
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of March Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 87°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 03-29-2020
Lowest Temperature -7°F in Highlands on 03-07-1899
Greatest Rainfall 6.61 inches in Highlands on 03-26-2021
Greatest Snowfall 25.5 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 03-13-1993
Record Weather Events for March 20th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 91°F in Louisburg, Franklin County in 1948
Lowest Temperature 3°F in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 1981 /> Greatest Rainfall 4.00 inches in Carthage, Moore County in 1965
Greatest Snowfall 8.0 inches in Highlands, Macon County in 1915
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of March Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 98°F in Belhaven, Beaufort County on 03-27-1921
Lowest Temperature -11°F in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 03-03-1980
Greatest Rainfall 10.10 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 03-04-1979
Greatest Snowfall 36.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 03-13-1993
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
Tuesday, March 14th
Macon County Board of Commissioners Monthly Meeting at 6.00pm in the Commissioners Board on the third floor of the county courthouse. Access is through the rear parking lot. [Download PDF of Agenda Packet]
No events have been submitted for Macon Calendar.
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Local and State News
• Roll Call: Here's how WNC's members of Congress voted March 10-16 [Asheville Citizen-Times]
Cherokee Tribe History | Native American History
• On the Record: NC Capitol team breaks down busy week in General Assembly (video) [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• The vacancy rate in state jobs is a problem for NC. What Cooper, lawmakers want to do. [Raleigh News and Observer]
• Voluntary recall issued for certain types of Gerber infant formula [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
Proposed State Budget for 2023-2025 [Download PDF]
• Macon County Board of Commissioners March 2023 Regular Meeting [Macon Media]
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National and World News Roundup
Law enforcement on alert after Trump's calls for protests | WCBS-TV (New York City, NY)
• Why an indictment may help Trump — and threaten the GOP [Politico]
• UBS Agrees to Buy Credit Suisse for More Than $3 Billion [WSJ (video and audio)] [WSJ (article archive)]
• Lab Leak or Not? How Politics Shaped the Battle Over Covid’s Origin [New York Times]
Is the Navy ready? How the U.S. is preparing amid a naval buildup in China | 60 Minutes
• ‘Widespread violence’: South Africa braces for day of chaos as Marxist party demands ‘national shutdown’ [news.com.au]
• North Korea's Kim oversees simulated nuclear counterattack against US, South Korea [Reuters]
• Minister Chikli threatens to bring down gov't in conflict with haredim [Jerusalem Post]
• Federal Reserve lent $300 billion in emergency funds to banks in the past week [PBS News Hour]
• Alex Jones reportedly concealing funds to avoid $1.5bn payout to Sandy Hook families [The Guardian]
Brooks and Capehart on the turmoil in the banking sector | PBS Newshour
Washington Today (3-17-23): Irish PM meets POTUS and Speaker McCarthy in DC for St. Patrick's Day | C-SPAN RADIO
Global National: March 19, 2023 | Putin visits occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol
Nightly News Full Broadcast (March 19th)
PBS NewsHour full episode, (March 19, 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 11:31am CET, 16 March 2023, there have been 102,417,985 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,113,229 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 10 February 2023, a total of 662,514,513 vaccine doses have been administered.
Globally, as of 11:31am CET, 16 March 2023, there have been 760,360,956 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,873,477 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 12 March 2023, a total of 13,232,780,775 vaccine doses have been administered.
• Lab Leak or Not? How Politics Shaped the Battle Over Covid’s Origin [New York Times]
• COVID-19: A look back on where the US succeeded and where we didn’t [ ABC News ]
• Long COVID is Real and Needs Your Attention! [ Straight Talk Louisiana (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana)]
• The limits of expert judgment: Lessons from social science forecasting during the pandemic [ The Conversation ]
As COVID-19 protection measures go away, high-risk Americans remain concerned | ABC News
TWiV 992: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin | Microbe TV
• TWiV 993: COVID-19 drives autoimmunity [Microbe TV]
• TWiV 992: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin [Microbe TV]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• Moooove over: How single-celled yeasts are doing the work of 1,500-pound cows [Washington Post]
• Bird Flu Associated with Hundreds of Seal Deaths in New England in 2022, Tufts Researchers Find [Tufts Now]
• Bottom marine heatwaves along the continental shelves of North America [Nature Communications]
• India cuts internet for 27 million people amid search for fugitive [Washington Post]
• Buzzfeed, After Gutting Its Newsroom, Asks Reporters to Produce Even More [Vanity Fair]
• San Francisco-based Reddit to vacate current headquarters and relocate [SF GATE]
• “Cosmic Concrete” Made From Extra-Terrestrial Dust Is Twice As Strong as Regular Concrete [SciTechDaily]
• 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
The Top 10 Astronomical Discoveries of 2022 (part 1) | ParallaxNick
The Top 10 Astronomical Discoveries of 2022 (part 2) | ParallaxNick
Nuclear Fusion Start-ups: Who Will Win the Race? | Sabine Hossenfelder
The Level1 Show March 15 2023: FDIC You Later | Level1Techs
Micron Managing - DTNS 4479 | Daily Tech News Show
Three Scientific Papers on the UFO Phenomenon | John Michael Godier
Virgin De-Orbits, Relativity Scrubs, Axiom's Space Suit Debuts - Deep Space Updates March 19th | Scott Manley
Docker Shocker - LINUX Unplugged 502 | Jupiter Broadcasting
Is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 a game-changer? - Benchmarks, features, and more! | Android Authority
The Terrifying Technology Inside Drone Cameras | New Mind
Sam Harris: Trump, Pandemic, Twitter, Elon, Bret, IDW, Kanye, AI and UFOs | Lex Fridman Podcast #365
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Special Section: The Russo-Ukrainian War
(sharing of a particular source is not an endorsement)
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 19 [Institute for the Study of War] [PDF for March 19th]
• Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 390 [Al Jazeera]
• Russo-Ukrainian War. Day 389: Russia targets Ukraine with 16 Shahed drones [Euromaiden Press]
• Nine Russian warships spotted off the coast of Crimea [Jerusalem Post]
• Will Xi-Putin summit deliver a breakthrough on Ukraine war? [Al JHazeera]
• Bakhmut a Russian failure: Ukrainian officials, int’l analysts, Russians themselves[TVP World]
• Ukraine updates: Putin visits occupied city of Mariupol [DW News]
• EU hammers out 2-bn-euro ammunition plan for Ukraine [France 24]
Putin visits Russian-occupied Mariupol in Ukraine | Al Jazeera
Wanted war criminal Vladimir Putin revisits Mariupol crime scene - World News | TVP World
Russia's Winter Offensive in Ukraine - From Bakhmut to Vuhledar, outcomes, lessons, and costs | Perun
Bakhmut Holds - Chinese Plan - Russian Invasion of Ukraine | Kings and Generals
News from Russian or pro-Russian outlets or Video About the Russian Perspective
The Russians have destroyed THREE UKRAINIAN ARMIES | Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor
• Xi Jinping sees ‘irreversible’ shift to multipolar world [Russia Today]
• Russia and USA fight over the crashed MQ-9 Reaper [Pravda]
• Ukrainian crisis may be solved if common security is provided, says Xi Jinping [TASS Russian News Agency]
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On This Day
March 20 is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 286 days remain until the end of the year.
Sometimes the March equinox falls on this date (mostly in Western Hemisphere countries), marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
1890 – Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
1926 – Chiang Kai-shek initiates a purge of communist elements within the National Revolutionary Army in Guangzhou.
1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".
1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
1969 – A United Arab airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people.
1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
2003 – Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq.
2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
2010 – Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland begins eruptions that would last for three months, heavily disrupting air travel in Europe.
2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.
2015 – Syrian civil war: The Siege of Kobanî is broken by the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Free Syrian Army (FSA), marking a turning point in the Rojava–Islamist conflict.
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Published at 5:00am on Monday, March 20, 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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