Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County.
GENERAL OUTLOOK
Expect cooler temperatures going into the weekend with the potential for light mountain snow today and Saturday. A weak low pressure system could affect the region Monday, with another one for Wednesday into Thursday.
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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.
DAY SPONSOR
Macon Media is being underwritten today by Franklin Office Supply. Visit their store at 161 Highlands Road in Franklin or check out their website.
---END SPONSOR SEGMENT------
Local Weather
General Forecast Through Sunday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Today
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 8pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 8pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the low-to mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 7 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 50s.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Today
A slight chance of snow before 7pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 7pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high in the lower 20s mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows around 30.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Partly sunny, with highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Today
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 9pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 9pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 24. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30.
Nantahala Area
Today
A slight chance of rain after 3pm, mixing with snow after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Today
A chance of snow before 7pm, then a chance of snow showers, mainly between 7pm and 5am. Patchy fog before 2am, then patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. Winds out of the west 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the upper 40s.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing.
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Hazards
Hazardous weather is not expected today or tonight.
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Record Weather Events for December 29th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 73°F in Franklin in 1984
Lowest Temperature -10°F in Highlands in 1894
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 5.26 inches in Highlands in 1954
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.5 inches in Highlands in 1935
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of December Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on 12-31-1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.25 inches in Highlands on 12-28-2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on 12-21-1876
Record Weather Events for December 29th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 81°F in Greenville, Pitt County in 2015
Lowest Temperature -10°F in Highlands, Macon County in 1894
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches at the Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County in 2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.00 inches in Gastonia, Gaston County in 1935
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of December Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 87°F in Edenton, Chowan County on 12-03-1922
Lowest Temperature -21°F in Banner Elk, Avery County on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 12-29-2018
Greatest Snowfall 25.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 12-09-2017
Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
January Music Lineup for Friends of the Greenway, Inc.
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
This is a reminder that Frog Quarters remains closed throughout this week, but we will reopen with our regular schedule (Wed thru Sat, 9a to 2p) beginning next week on January 3rd........Meaning Live MidDay Music will resume on Saturdays from 11a to 1p.
1/6/24—George James—You’ll enjoy George’s tenor voice on his wide repertoire of Folk, Soft Country & Celtic Folk covers. Bring your requests in, because if George doesn’t know one popular hit, he’ll probably know another by the artist.
1/13/24—Al Scortino & Greg “Squeeze Box” Thomas—Both these guys have a fantastic offering of original songs they’ve written over the years. “Slice of life” songs, environmental songs and more. You’ll be shedding a tear over Al’s award-winning folk song, Molly’s Makeup. Greg always has the perfect instrumental accompaniment with the keyboard, accordian or harmonica. These guys are a treat.
1/20/24—Melody Lowery—A talented singer/songwriter who’s quite the musician whether playing her favorite guitar or demonstrating her many years of schooling on the keyboard. She’s known around town for her original, Frogtown Girl—a Franklin, NC ballad.
1/27/24—Mike Yow—When this talented Singer/Songwriter isn’t doing Country, Rock or Gospel with his group, Arnold Hill, he performs his originals along with Appalachian, country and folk/pop of others. It’s always a treat when Mike comes to town.
Frog Quarters is open 9a to 2p, Wednesdays thru Saturdays—beside the River Bridge. We are the Non-Profit supporting the Greenway with monies from sales from our Coffee & Gift Shop, Memberships and Donations. As always, thank you for your support!
Mountain Findings
432 Spruce Street (physical)
Highlands, North Carolina 28741
Web: MountainFindings.org
Mountain Findings (a thrift store) is open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm until October 2023.
News Briefing
---STATE AND LOCAL---
More in NC hospitals have flu than COVID | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
• Portion of Clyde Street to be Closed for Waterline Construction From January 2nd to Jan 5th, 2024 [Macon Media]
• Another fight over voting in NC goes to a judge. But could it be resolved out of court? [Raleigh News and observer]
• Consumer Reports: Celebrate with non-alcoholic sparkling wine [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• 2023 A Look Back: Grinch Award [Smoky Mountain News]
• These laws are going into effect in North Carolina on Jan. 1 [WCNC-TV (Charlotte, NC)]
• BUCKLEY REPORT: Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Paul Newby sits down with FOX8 [WGHP-TV (High Point, NC)]
---RECENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEETINGS--
• Macon County Board of Commissioners (Dec 2023) [Macon Media]
• Macon County Board of Education December 2023 Meeting at Franklin High School [Macon Media]
• Franklin Town Council (Dec 2023) [Macon Media]
---NATIONAL---
OpenAI sued by NYT! New York Times demands that ChatGPT be DELETED! The end of GPT? Probably not... | David Shapiro
How the U.S. avoided a recession in 2023 | CBS News
SpaceX Falcon Heavy USSF-52 Launch | Space News Pod
• Migrant crossings at U.S. southern border reach record monthly high in December [CBS News]
• The New Star on the Political Scene: The Chip Industry [WSJ (video/audio)] [WSJ (text archive)]
• Elon Musk’s X Loses Bid To Change California Content Moderation Law [Deadline]
• Donald Trump blocked from Maine presidential ballot in 2024 [BBC News]
• What to Know About the Efforts to Remove Trump From the 2024 Ballot [New York Times]
• Christie says Trump will ‘burn America to the ground’ [Washington Times]
International News Headlines
NATO makes major changes to address new threats | DW News
Putin Orders 'Super Weapon' Attack On Ukraine: 'Killjoy' Missile 'Faster' Than US' HIMARS | Kinzhal | Hindustan Times
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 28, 2023 [Institute for the Study of War]
• Mexico: 14 kidnapped from village that rose up and killed cartel members [The Guiardian (UK)]
• Venezuela will hold military exercises off its shores as a British warship heads to Guyana [AP News]
• North Korea’s Kim Jong Un orders military to accelerate war preparations [NBC News]
• Small Drones Are Helping Israel Navigate the Urban Battlefield in Gaza [WSJ (video/audio)] [WSJ (text archive)]
• Israel-Hamas War Day 84 | Former Israeli PM Bennett Calls to Strikes Iran, Says Israel Attacked Iranian Base in 2022 [Haaretz]
• China-Taiwan Weekly Update, December 28, 2023 [Institute for the Study of War]
Washington Today (12-28-23): Nikki Haley after backlash: 'of course' Civil War was about slavery | C-SPAN Radio
Global National: Dec. 28, 2023 | Search for missing teen after 1 dead in Rideau River ice fall
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - December 28, 2023
Nightly News Full Broadcast - Dec 28 | NBC News
PBS NewsHour full episode, (December 28, 2023)
---Science, Technology, Culture, and History News Roundup---
• The Sky This Week from December 22 to 29: A Christmastime Cold Moon [Astronomy Magazine]
• This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 22 – 31 [Sky and Telescope Magazine]
The Level1 Show December 29 2023: Jeff Bezos Finally Gets It Up | Level1 Techs
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Linux Workstations | No Boilerplate
Scientists Are Bringing Back Extinct Species. But Is This A Good Thing? | Joe Scott
• War of the workstations: How the lowest bidders shaped today's tech landscape [The Register]
• Humanoid robots are now doing work of humans in Spanx warehouse [Fox News]
• Social media platforms generate billions in annual ad revenue from US youth [Eureka Alert: American Association for the Advancement of Science]
• A Decade of Tweets: Visualizing Racial Sentiments Towards Minoritized Groups in the United States Between 2011 and 2021 [Epidemiology]
New Species of Tiny Plesiosaur Discovered | 7 Days of Science
• Five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs discovered in south-east Asia [The Guardian (UK)]
• India targets Apple over its phone hacking notifications [Washington Post]
• Flying taxi services could begin appearing as early as 2024 [TechSpot]
---Science, Technology, Culture, and History Video Section---
The Incredible Story of Sending Man to the Moon (A Deep Dive) | Megaprojects
Promoting Linux: An End-User Manifesto | Explaining Computers
The Man Who Haunts Science | Vsauce2
Linux Saloon 95 | Applications in Review 2023
10 Interesting Observations of the James Webb Space Telescope For 2023 | John Michael Godier
Exciting Discoveries About Dwarf Planets Eris/Pluto/Charon/Orcus and Their Unusual Moons | Antov Petrov
---COVID News Roundup---
Office Hours with Earth's Virology Professor Livestream 12/27/23 8 pm eastern | Microbe TV
A group of people who've lost loved ones to COVID-19 are finding strength in each other | WCCO-TV (Minneapolis, MN)
• In search of a pan-coronavirus vaccine: next-generation vaccine design and immune mechanisms [nature: Cellular and Molecular Immunology]
• General and orofacial symptoms associated with acute and long COVID in 80- and 90-year-old Swedish COVID-19 survivors [National Library of Science]
• Olfactory immune response to SARS-CoV-2 [nature: Cellular and Molecular Immunology]
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On This Day
December 29th is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; two days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
875 – Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor Charles II.
1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
• [Wikipedia Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket]
• [The HORRIFIC Murder Of Thomas Becket - Archbishop Of Canterbury]
• [Why Henry II Murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket | Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty | Timeline]
1503 – The Battle of Garigliano (1503) was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Garigliano (1503)]
• [(VIDEO) Battles of Cerignola and Garigliano 1503 - Italian Wars DOCUMENTARY]
• [HistoryOfWar.org]
1508 – Portuguese forces under the command of Francisco de Almeida attack Khambhat at the Battle of Dabul.
1607 – Indian princess Pocahantas saves captain John Smith from murder.
• [Who Was The Real Pocahontas? | Pocahontas And John Smith | Timeline]
• [NCpedia]
• [Eyewitness to History]
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Three thousand British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
1812 – USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.
• [Naval History and Heritage Command]
• [Wikipedia article]
• [History Central]
1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
• [Wikipedia]
• [(VIDEO) Original Treaty of New Echota unveiled]
• [Images of Treaty]
• [PDF Copy at National Museum of the American Indian]
1845 – The United States annexes the Republic of Texas.
• [Wikipedia: Texas annexation]
• [VIDEO: The Annexation of Texas]
• [The Annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1845–1848]
1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.
1874 – The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and the monarchy is restored as Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain.
1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
• [Wikipedia]
• [HistoryPod Video]
• [VIDEO: The Ghost Dance Movement | Native American Culture | Wounded Knee Massacre]
1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.
1913 – Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood's first feature film, The Squaw Man.
• [Wikipedia]
• [Full Mpvie on Youtube]
• [Wikipedia Bio: Cecil B. DeMille]
1916 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is first published as a book by American publishing house B. W. Huebschis after its serialization in The Egoist (1914–15).
1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, killing almost 200 civilians.
1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes in the Florida Everglades on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101 of the 176 people on board.
1975 – A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
1989 – Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Václav Havel]
• [Obituary in the New York Times]
• [Václav Havel's Legacy Today (Part 1)]
• [Václav Havel's Legacy Today (Part 2)]
1989 – The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.
1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
1994 – Turkish Airlines Flight 278 (a Boeing 737-400) crashes on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.
1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the city's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives.
2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
2006 – The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
2012 – A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.
2013 – A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.
2013 – Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.
2020 – A large explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden kills at least 22 people and wounds 50.
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Published at 5:00am on Friday, December 29, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe 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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