A storm system will move through the area quickly today. Some light wintry precipitation is expected, mainly over parts of western North Carolina. Wrap-around moisture may keep light precipitation going along the Tennessee border through Thursday and into Thursday night. Otherwise, cold high pressure will build in for the remainder of the week with the next system expected Saturday into Sunday.
ABOVE THE FOLD
Macon County Schools are on a 2-hour delay
As of 4am, The Franklin, Nantahala, and Highlands school districts are on a two-hour delay due to expected wintry weather.
Highlands School will begin at 10:00 AM. Please do not drop off students prior to 9:30 to insure access to the building and proper supervision. If a change to the 2 hour delay school schedule needs to be made, another call will go out by 8:30 am. If there is no change, no additional call will be made and school will begin at 10:00 AM.
In addition, buses will only pick up students at the following locations: Bus 101 will pick up students at Shortoff Baptist Church on Buck Creek Road at 9:10, and Clear Creek Baptist Church on Blue Valley Road at 9:30. Bus 105 will pick up students at the Scaly Mountain Fire Station on Hale Ridge Road at 9:30.
If you are not able to reach one of the pick up 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.
County Commissioners Meet in Closed Session
The Macon County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting last night, the main purpose of which was to go into a closed session to consider candidates for county attorney to replace the previous county attorney, who had retired on October 31st. They also voted to extend the contract with the Swain County Attorney to act as the Macon County Attorney which was set to expire on December 30th. Video of the meeting is embedded below.
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General forecast through Tuesday night
Franklin area
Today
A chance of rain or freezing rain before 7am, then rain. Patchy fog between 8am and 4pm. Highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected.
Tonight
A chance of rain before 8pm, then a slight chance of drizzle between 8pm and 9pm. Patchy fog before 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm by noon.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Light winds out of the northwest.
Friday
Sunny, with highs near 50.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.
Highlands area
Today
Rain, possibly mixed with freezing rain and sleet, becoming all rain after 7am. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning increasing to come out of the southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Little or no sleet accumulation expected.
Tonight
Areas of fog before 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday
Sunny, with highs near 40.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.
Otto area
Today
Rain, possibly mixed with freezing rain and sleet, becoming all rain after 7am. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Little or no sleet accumulation expected.
Tonight
Areas of fog overnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday
Sunny, with highs near 40.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s.
Nantahala area
Today
Rain, mainly before 4pm. Patchy fog. Highs near 40. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph in the morning becoming light and variable in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight
A chance of rain or drizzle before 11pm, then a slight chance of drizzle between 11pm and 2am. Patchy fog overnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Thursday
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 6 mph.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
HAZARDS
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the county until noon today. Details are posted below.
Winter Weather Advisory
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
1033 PM EST Tue Dec 15 2020
...WINTRY MIX EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...
.Light precipitation will develop late tonight and spread across the region through Wednesday morning. Cold air will support a wintry mix for much of the North Carolina mountains and adjacent foothills, with a brief period of freezing rain for other areas.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST WEDNESDAY...
* WHAT...A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected. Total snow and sleet accumulations of up to a half inch and ice accumulations of a glaze to up to one tenth of an inch.
* WHERE...Portions of western North Carolina.
* WHEN...From midnight tonight to noon EST Wednesday.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
Please report snow and ice accumulations by calling the National Weather Service toll free at...1...800...267...8101. Leave a message with your observation and the specific location where it occurred. You can also post your report to National Weather Service Greenville Spartanburg Facebook or tweet your report using hashtag nwsgsp.
Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or your favorite source of weather information for the latest updates. Additional details can be found at www.weather.gov/gsp.
COVID-19 Briefing
The Macon Media COVID-19 Briefing, aka the COVID Linkapalooza [LINK] will be published later this morning. yesterday's is available. [LINK]
The local numbers, tables, and graphs are posted below.
Here are the latest COVID-19 Numbers and Demographics Report from Macon Public Health, along with a couple of charts by Macon Media to show you the long-term trends since April 17th.
Cases
1119 Detected
(+12 from Monday and +40 from last Tuesday and +253 in four weeks)
125 Active
(+2 from Monday and +40 from last Tuesday and +66 in four weeks)
985 Recovered
(+10 from Monday and +59 from last Tuesday and +186 in four weeks)
9 Deaths
(unchanged from Monday and unchanged from last Tuesday and +1 in four weeks)
Testing
7540 by MCPH
(+11 from Monday and +271 from last Tuesday and +719 in four weeks)
4505 by Others
(unchanged from Monday and +129 from last Tuesday and +1038 in four weeks)
12045 total
(+11 from Monday and +380 from last Tuesday and +1757 in four weeks
149 tests pending results
-135 from Monday and +19 from last Tuesday and +20 in four weeks)
Air Quality
Air quality is in the middle range of green today for all elevations.
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be low (0.3 out of 12) with a mixed trace of sources being the culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be a lower (0.3 out of 12).
Weather Extremes for Macon County for December 16th
Highest Temperature 70°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1971
lowest Temperature 4°F in Franklin in 1963
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 2.48 inches in Highlands in 1982
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 1.5 inches in Highlands in 1932
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the Month of December
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin in 1951
lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands in 1917
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 6.00 inches in Highlands in 1901 Greatest One-Day Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin in 1876
TROPICAL WEATHER
(The North Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st to Nov 30th)
The North Atlantic Hurricane Season is over for the year. If anything does develop, the information will be posted in this section of the weather briefing.
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Published at 3:45am on Wedneday, December 16, 2020
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