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Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
Special Section: Russo-UKrainian War (Day 22)
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
On This Day
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OUTLOOK
Showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected this afternoon through early Saturday as a weak cold front moves through the Western Carolinas. In the front`s wake, dry high pressure will spread over the region and linger through early next week. Another cold front will approach the area by the middle of next week.
• Otto Fire Department has established a fundraiser to assist the family of an injured firefighter (Chief Rholetter) on [GoFundMe]
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Sunday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. High near 65. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 1am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Patchy fog after 11pm. Low around 50. South southeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. West southwest wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 33.
Highlands Plateau
Today
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. High near 56. South wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 3am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3am. Patchy fog. Low around 48. South southeast wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. West southwest wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday Night
Clear, with a low around 34.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. High near 65. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 1am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Patchy fog after 11pm. Low around 50. South southeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. West southwest wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 33.
Nantahala Area
Today
A chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 62. Light south southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. South wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Southwest wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Thunderstorms will develop ahead of a cold front this afternoon into the early overnight Saturday across southwest North Carolina, northeast Georgia and the western Upstate. Some of these storms could become organized and produce strong or damaging outflow winds along with large hail and cloud to ground lightning.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
Spotters are encouraged relay any reports of severe weather to our office through normal channels.
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Almanac
Air quality is in the extreme upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the extreme upper range of green.
Fire and Smoke Map
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (9.3 out of 12) today with Maple, Juniper, and Oak being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (8.4 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for March 18th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 82°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2016
Lowest Temperature 6°F in Highlands in 1916
Greatest One-Day Rain 4.10 inches in Franklin in 1880
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 3.3 inches in Highlands in 1915
Record weather events for March in Macon County
Highest Temperature 86°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on March 15, 1967
Lowest Temperature -7°F in Highlands on March 7, 1899
Greatest One-Day Rain 6.43 inches in Highlands on March 29, 1898
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 25.5 inches at the Coweeta Experimental Station on March 13, 1993
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)
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Local and State News
• NC SBI to investigate allegations of voter fraud against former Trump aide Mark Meadows [Raleigh News and Observer]
Due to a political conflict of interest, District Attorney Ashley Welch has requested a recusal in the Mark Meadows voter fraud investigation for herself and her office. A copy of the letter is posted below.
PRESS RELEASE (03-17-2022)
43rd PROSECUTORIAL DISTRICT
March 14, 2022
Dear Ms. Dismukes,
Thank you very much for speaking with me concerning the voter fraud allegations surrounding former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. After careful consideration and review of the North Carolina State Bar rules, I feel that my office has a conflict of interest pursuant to North Carolina State Bar Rule 1.7 resulting in the recusal of my office. I am requesting the Attorney General's Office handle both the advisement of law enforcement agencies as to any criminal investigation as well as any potential prosecution of Mark Meadows.
Last week, several news media outlets contacted my office in reference to voter fraud allegations made against Mark Meadows. Until being contacted by the media, I was unaware of any allegations of voter fraud surrounding Mark Meadows.
Mark Meadows is the former Congressman for the 11th District, which includes Macon County. In late 2014, Congressman Meadows made a financial contribution to my political campaign for District Attorney as well as appeared in several political advertisements endorsing my bid for District Attorney.
The allegations in this case involve potential crimes committed by a government official. Historically, I have requested the Attorney General's Office to handle prosecutions involving alleged misconduct of government officials. It is the in the best interest of justice and the best interest of the people of North Carolina that the Attorney General's office handles the prosecution of this case.
Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Ashley Hornsby Welch
• Expect Atypical Nantahala Flows This Spring and Possibly Longer [American Whitewater]
• NC General Assembly takes redistricting fight to U.S. Supreme Court [WLOS-TV (Ashevile, NC)]
• On cam: 400 gallons of gas stolen from High Point station [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• Otto Fire Department has established a fundraiser to assist the family of an injured firefighter (Cheif Rholetter) on [GoFundMe]
Day Twenty Two
Ukraine Invasion Continues Day 22 (FNN Live)
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 17 [Institute for the Study of War] [PDF for the 15th]
• How the West is breaking through Russia's propaganda wall [Yahoo! News]
• Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation) [International Court of Justice (PDF)]
Humanitarian situation in Ukraine | United Nations
• ‘The Russians must know it’s a lie.’ Ukrainian bat research spun into a false tale of bioweapons [Science]
A message to the Russian people from Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Russia faces IT crisis with just two months of data storage left [Bleeping Computer]
• ExoMars Rover Mission Officially Suspended as Europe Cuts Ties With Russia [Gizmodo]
• Javelin anti-tank missiles become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance [The Times of Israel]
Thoughts on Ukraine by Darryl Cooper (March 14th)
• Russian state TV is repeatedly airing clips of Tucker Carlson and Rep. Madison Cawthorn talking about the war in Ukraine [Business Insider]
'Gutfeld!' panel analyzes Biden's response to the Russia-Ukraine war
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National and World News Roundup
• Antitrust bill would bar mergers over $5B, allow regulators to unwind others [ars TECHNICA]
• Chinese plot to smear US Congress hopeful unveiled [BBC News]
• NC SBI to investigate allegations of voter fraud against former Trump aide Mark Meadows [Raleigh News and Observer]
• House passes bill revoking normal trade relations with Russia, Belarus [Courthouse News Service]
• Trump attempts to fix his Putin problem [NBC News]
Global National: March 17, 2022 | Ukrainians hold the line as Russia intensifies southern assault
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - March 17th, 2022
PBS NewsHour Full Episode March 17th, 2022
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COVID-19 News and Updates
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 4:14pm CET, 17 March 2022, there have been 462,758,117 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,056,725 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 15 March 2022, a total of 10,783,650,787 vaccine doses have been administered.
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 4:14pm CET, 17 March 2022, there have been 78,891,488 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 960,194 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 25 February 2022, a total of 537,567,013 vaccine doses have been administered.
• With infections spiking in Europe and a variant on the rise, experts warn the U.S. could face a Covid resurgence [STAT]
• Incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes after Covid-19 [Spriner Link]
• COVID cases predicted to rise in coming weeks because of new BA.2 variant [ABC News]
• Antitrust bill would bar mergers over $5B, allow regulators to unwind others [ars TECHNICA]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, and IMAX Team Up to Make New Film Cameras [High on Cinema]
• Amazon workers in New York and Maryland are protesting for better wages [The Verge]
• ‘The Russians must know it’s a lie.’ Ukrainian bat research spun into a false tale of bioweapons [Science]
• Russia faces IT crisis with just two months of data storage left [Bleeping Computer]
• AI suggested 40,000 new possible chemical weapons in just six hours [The Verge]
• ExoMars Rover Mission Officially Suspended as Europe Cuts Ties With Russia [Gizmodo]
• John Deere to produce driverless tractors in Iowa [KCCI-TV (Des Moines, IA)]
• ExoMars Rover Mission Officially Suspended as Europe Cuts Ties With Russia [Gizmodo]
• Javelin anti-tank missiles become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance [The Times of Israel]
• Apple Made an Additional $6.5 Billion USD by No Longer Providing Accessories With New iPhones [HypeBeast]
• Nasa’s New Monster Rocket Set to Roll Out After More Than a Decade of Delays [The Verge]
• Free, legally available series/movies on YouTube in a Netlflix-like interface [Lamplight TV]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos
Anything from educational, entertainment, history, current events and technology
Level1 News March 18 2022: Star Wars: Rogue Two
What's The Matter With Matter? - DTNS 4234
Artemis: crawling towards launch
First Rollout of NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket (Official NASA Broadcast)
SLS Rollout, NASA's Most Powerful Rocket Ever
What If Charge is NOT Fundamental?
SSDs Die, RAM Doesn't. Why?
Thoughts on Ukraine by Darryl Cooper (March 14th)
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On This Day
March 18th is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 288 days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (aka Caligula = Little Boots) emperor.
1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula leaves up to 20,000 dead.
1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade.
1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of the Romans.
1571 – Valletta is made the capital city of Malta.
1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
1673 – English lord John Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
1741 – New York governor George Clarke's complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741.
1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
1793 – The first modern republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
1793 – Flanders Campaign of the French Revolution, Battle of Neerwinden.
1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
1848 – The premiere of Fry's Leonora in Philadelphia is the first known performance of an grand opera by an American composer.
1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.
1874 – The Hawaiian Kingdom signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
1898 – Phoebe, a satellite of Saturn, becomes first to be discovered with photographs, taken in August 1898, by William Henry Pickering.
1902 – Macario Sakay issues Presidential Order No. 1 of his Tagalog Republic.
1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
1915 – World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1921 – The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.
1921 – The Kronstadt rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.
1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
1937 – The New London School explosion in New London, Texas, kills 300 people, mostly children.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
1938 – Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.
1940 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
1944 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
1959 – The Hawaii Admission Act is signed into law.
1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
1965 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1966 – United Arab Airlines Flight 749 crashes on approach to Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt, killing 30 people.
1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
1968 – Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1971 – Peru: A landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
1980 – A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
1990 – Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
1994 – Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey, causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board.
2014 – The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
2015 – The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. Twenty-three people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.
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Published at 5:00am on Friday, March 18, 2022
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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