Weather Briefing for Wednesday, February 3, 2021

OUTLOOK

This is an abbreviated news and weather briefing.

Drier and somewhat warmer weather is expected today and Thursday. Increased moisture and upper support will drive additional clouds and a chance for rainfall ahead of a cold front on Friday. Dry and near-normal temperatures expected Saturday, while discrepancy in model guidance introduces a tricky forecast heading into the second half of the weekend and beyond.

News Highlights



• Nantahala Schhol will be having a Virtual Day today (Wednesday, Feb 3rd) due to weather concerns.
• Macon County Reports Additional Death Related to COVID-19 [LINK]

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay respects to fallen Capitol Police officer



Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Lies In Honor At Capitol



• New COVID-19 ACA Special Enrollment Period: Feb. 15th – May 15th [LINK]

• The Franklin Town Council met Monday at 6pm. [LINK]



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General forecast through Friday Night


Franklin area

Today

Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 01. Calm winds.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Rain, mainly after 11pm. Lows in the mid-30s. Winds out of the south 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday

Rain likely, mainly before 10am. Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s.

Highlands area

Today

Sunny, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 208 mph.

Thursday

Increasing clouds, with highs in the lower 40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Freezing rain likely before midnight, then rain or freezing rain between midnight and 3am, then rain after 3am. Lows around freezing. WInds out of the south 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday

Rain, mainly before 10am. Highs near 40. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 201.

Otto area

Today

Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. WInds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight.

Thursday

Increasing clouds, with highs near 50. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Rain, mainly after 11pm. Lows in the mid-30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday

Rain, mainly before 10am. Highs in the upper 40s. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-20s.

Nantahala area

Today

Sunny, with highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 201. Light and variable winds.

Thursday

Increasing clouds, with highs in the upper 40s. Light and variable winds.

Thursday Night

Rain, mainly after 11pm. Lows in the mid-30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday

Rain likely, mainly before 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 40s. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-20s.



HAZARDS

Wind Advisory
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
347 AM EST Wed Feb 3 2021

...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST THIS MORNING...

* WHAT...Northwest winds 10 to 25 mph with gusts of 35 to 45 mph.

* WHERE...The South Carolina mountains, Rabun County Georgia, Haywood, Southern Jackson, Madison, Macon and Transylvania Counties in North Carolina.

* WHEN...Until 7 AM EST this morning.

* IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.





COVID-19 BRIEFING

Episode #41 Osterholm Update COVID-19: Surrender is Not an Option (January 20, 2021 update)



In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss the issue of opening schools, updates on variants of concern, and more news on vaccines and their distribution.

Email us your questions: [OsterholmUpdate@umn.edu]

• Governor Cooper extended the Modified Stay at Home Order last week, including the evictions moratorium and to-go and delivery sales for mixed beverages. These Orders are intended to help struggling families and businesses during the pandemic. [LINK]

See the Biden Administration COVID-19 Plan [LINK]



COVID-19 in Macon County

Vaccine Appointments Being Rescheduled Due to Limited Supply

Due to inadequate supply of COVID-19 vaccine from NC DHHS, Macon County Public Health must reschedule first dose appointments. Those who have already scheduled appointments for their first dose of vaccine have been moved to the front of Macon County Public Health's COVID-19 Vaccine Wait List. Macon County Public Health will contact those on the waitlist as vaccine becomes available to reschedule your appointment. There are approximately 3,000 individuals on the Macon County Vaccine Wait List.

Macon County will be receiving 300 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state each week for the next three weeks. This number is based on population size in Macon County. We appreciate your patience in this unprecedented time. For questions, you can call 828-524-1500, Monday – Friday, 8am to 5pm.

Regardless of which group you fall under, you can register for the COVID-19 Vaccine Wait List at https://gis2.maconnc.org/VAX/VAX.html. When the group you fall under is eligible for vaccination, a member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center will contact you to schedule your appointment.

NCDHHS updates its website to reflect the current group eligible for vaccine. You can view the site at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations. Macon County Public Health will update its social media pages to alert the public when the state and county advance to the next group of vaccination. At this time, Macon County Public Health and NCDHHS are not scheduling individuals for vaccination in groups other than Groups 1 and 2.

At the January 25th school board meeting, Superintendent Dr Baldwin informed board members that 158 students and 22 staff out of school due to either being tested positive for COVID-19, or having to be isolated due to possible exposure.

NEW POSITIVE COVID-19 PUBLIC SCHOOL CASES (Feb 2nd)

Franklin High School-5
Highlands School-11


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. The health department has started releasing information about vaccine delivery, so those numbers will be included here also, as well as charted.


VACCINE DELIVERY
(note--these numbers are on the day reported, not necessarily given since some shots may be given after the daily report is published, or offsite vaccine clinics that may not be reported until the day after)

Vaccines Given Tuesday 0, Tuesday 0
Current Inventory Tuesday 400, Tuesday 0
Total Vaccines Given Tuesday 2515, Tuesday 2515
(note--these numbers are on the day reported, not necessarily given since some shots may be given after the daily report is published)

Last Week

Category	Mon 01-25	Tue 01-26	Wed 01-27	Thu 01-28	Fri 01-29	Average
Vaccines Given	100	95	92	90	60	87.4
Current Inventory	120	230	140	50	0	108
Total Vaccines Given	2178	2273	2365	2455	2515	Not Applicable

COVD-19 Known Cases and Testing

Cases

2737 Detected
(+18 from Monday and +160 from last Tuesday and +917 from four weeks ago)

525 Active
(-3 from Monday and +6 last Tuesday and -1 from four weeks ago)

2193 Recovered
(+205 from Monday and +1531 last Tuesday and +911 from four weeks ago)

19 Deaths
(+1 from Monday and +1 from last Tuesday and +7 from four weeks ago)

Testing

8813 by MCPH
+33 from Monday and +243 from last Tuesday and +899 from four weeks ago)

7192 by Others
(+17 from Monday and +300 from last Tuesday and +2014 from four weeks ago)

16005 total
(+50 from Monday and +543 from last Tuesday and +2913 from four weeks ago)

245 tests pending results
(+unchanged from Monday and -414 from last Tuesday and +118 from four weeks ago)

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Published at 5:15am on Wednesday, February 3, 2021

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News and Weather Briefing for Thursday, January 7, 2021 US Capitol Building Occupied by Protesters

OUTLOOK

Dry high pressure will remain across the area before a moist storm system arrives from the west this evening and passes to the east on Friday. Widespread wintry weather will be possible with this system, with the best chances and most significant accumulations over the mountains and foothills. Canadian high pressure returns to the region over the weekend. Another low pressure system is likely to affect the area early next week.

News Highlights

• At 3:40am this morning, a Joint Session of the US Congress has certified the votes of the 2020 Presidential Election. The Presidential Ticket of Biden/Harris received 306 votes and the Presidential Ticket of Trump/Pence received 232 votes.

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th US President on January 20, 2021.
Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the 49th US Vice President on January 20, 2020.

Of course, it was not a simple path from the opening of the Joint Session to the certification of all the Electoral College votes from all the states. Protesters stormed the barricades outside the US Capitol Building and entered the building through various entry points, including at least [one set of windows] that were broken.

• Macon Media posted a play by play of events as they unfolded with multiple links to video and accounts of what was taking place. [LINK]

A live stream from NBC News of the entire Joint session of the US Congress is embedded below.



How it Began (Video From WUSA-TV Channel 9)



U.S. Capitol Protest: Police Use Tear Gas, Flashbangs on Pro-Trump Rioters



• Breaking Video: Patriots Breach US Capitol, SHOTS FIRED [LINK] (The article at this link contains political opinion and a video where a woman is shot in the US Capitol Building)

During the occupation of the US Capitol Building by protesters, President Trump posted a video on Twitter that was later removed by Twitter. A copy was also posted on the [President's account] on the [Gab social media network] and a copy of that is embedded here.

• The North Carolina Coronavirus Taskforce held a briefing yesterday afternoon. [Play by Play] with texts of the [secretarial directive] advising North Carolina residents to take action to protect themselves and others from COVID-19, along with a series of [Frequently Asked Questions] to help people understand the directive.



• Macon County Schools announced more positive cases of COVID-19 in the school system. [LINK

• Franklin Town Council Meeting for January 2021 [LINK]


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General forecast through Saturday night


Franklin area

Today

Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph by noon.

Tonight

Rain and snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Friday

Snow showers before 10am, then rain and snow showers likely between 10am and noon, then a chance of rain showers after noon. Widespread fog in the morning. Highs near 40. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-20s. Calm winds .

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. Light winds out of the northwest

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 20.

Highlands area

Today

A slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight

Snow showers and freezing rain before 4am, then snow showers, then snow showers, possibly mixed with freezing rain after 5am. Widespread fog after 4am. Widespread freezing fog after 4am. Lows around 30. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Friday

Snow showers, possibly mixed with freezing rain before noon, then a chance of rain and snow showers between noon and 5pm, then a chance of rain showers, snow showers, and freezing rain after 5pm. Widespread fog before 7am. Widespread freezing fog before 7am. Highs in the mid-30s. Winds out of the northeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 20.

Otto area

Today

A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-40s. Winds out of the southeast 3 to 5 mph.

Tonight

Rain, possibly mixed with snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. WInds out of the east around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Friday

Rain and snow showers before noon, then a chance of rain showers. Widespread fog before 7am. Highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. WInds out of the northwest 3 to 5 mph.

Saturday

Sunny, with highs in the mid-40s. WInds out of the northwest 3 to 5 mph.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s.

Nantahala area

Today

A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with highs in the mid-40s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Rain and snow showers. Widespread fog after 4am. Lows around freezing. Winds out of the south 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Friday

Snow showers likely before 11am, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 11am and 4pm, then a chance of rain showers after 4pm. Widespread fog before 7am. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Friday Night

A slight chance of rain showers before 7pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Light winds out of the northwest. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Light winds out of the northwest.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 20.



HAZARDS

Hazardous weather is not expected today until the middle of the afternoon when rain/sleet and snow are expected to arrive. The roads in the higher elevations could be slick after some light snowfall overnight. Winter weather is expected over most of the county with forecast snowfall amounts between and inch or two at the lower elevations up to 8 inches or more above 4000 feet. Accumulations will be highly variiable due to most of the area being at or near freezing until later tonight. A copy of a winer storm watch that has been issued for locations above 3500 feet has been posted below.

Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
458 AM EST Thu Jan 7 2021

...WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY...

.A storm system moving from the Deep South through the coastal plain of Georgia and South Carolina will spread precipitation into the region from late this evening through Friday morning before tapering off late Friday. Sufficient cold air will be in place for mainly snow to fall across the mountains, with the exception of the lowest valleys of extreme southwest North Carolina. While precipitation is expected to initially fall as rain across the foothills and northwest Piedmont, cooling temperatures will support a transition to snow Friday morning, roughly along and north of I-40. Heavy snow accumulations will be possible in these areas before the precipitation tapers off, or changes back to rain Friday afternoon. While rain and snow are expected to be the main precipitation types, a brief period of sleet or freezing rain will be possible, especially from the Blue Ridge escarpment through the northwest Piedmont, but any sleet or ice accumulations are expected to be minor.

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT EST FRIDAY NIGHT ABOVE 3500 FEET...

* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, with up to 9 inches on the highest ridgetops and ice accumulations of a light glaze.

* WHERE...Mainly elevations above 3500 feet

* WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to midnight EST Friday night.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures falling into the 20s to around 30 on Friday night will cause slippery road conditions to persist well into the weekend following the storm.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

Please report snow and ice accumulations by calling the National Weather Service toll free at...1...800...2 6 7...8 1 0 1. 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

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

1863 Detected
(+43 from Tuesday and +249 from last Wednesday and +829 in four weeks)

529 Active
(+3 from Tuesday and +114 from last Wednesday and +437 in four weeks)

1322 Recovered
(+40 from Tuesday and +135 from last Wednesday and +387 in four weeks)

12 Deaths
(unchanged from Tuesday and unchanged from last Wednesday and +3 in four weeks)

Testing

7914 by MCPH
(unchanged from Tuesday and +84 from last Wednesday and +562 in four weeks)

5509 by Others
(+331 from Tuesday and +394 from last Wednesday and +1113 in four weeks)

13423 total
(+331 from Tuesday and +478 from last Wednesday and +1679 in four weeks)

97 tests pending results
(-30 from Tuesday and +25 from last Wednesday and -48 in four weeks)

The Macon County Public Healthj did not send out a press release containing a Weekly Demographic Report yesterday as scheduled.

Air Quality

Air quality is in the upper range of green today for all elevations.

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be low (0.9 out of 12) with Mixed Trace being the main culprit. Tomorrow is expected to be a little lower (0.3 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County for January 7th


Highest Temperature 70°F in Franklin in 1890
lowest Temperature -9°F in Highlands in 2014
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 3.119 inches in Highlands in 1946
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.0 inches in Franklin in 19886

Weather Extremes for Macon County for the Month of January

Highest Temperature 78°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1999
lowest Temperature -19°F in Highlands in 1985
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 5.10 inches in Highlands in 2018
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 14.0 inches in Franklin in 1877

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 5:44am on Thursday, January 7, 2020

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(VIDEO) Anarchists And Lefties Riot in Denver

This video, and more photos can be found at Gateway Pundit.


This is part of a series of videos focusing on the insane Alex Jones.


This is from USA Today. (I love seeing Anarchists getting arrested!)

**update** 6.09AM I found a mini-report by Zombietime over at the hated Little Green Lizards.

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The truth about MacArthur Park

Update: Outrageous anti-police smear campaign launched by California Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez: "Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, who represents the park district, said police deliberately led troublemakers back to the peaceful marchers before beginning their assault.'The only logical conclusion I can come to is that somebody wanted it to bleed into the march so that they can do some target practice on some of the immigrants that were marching,' Nunez said."

Read more, and listen to Police Radio Traffic.

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Video: LA Riot Police in Action

I found this video linked off Drudge a few minutes ago, along with these stories:

MacArthur Park Meltdown

Police Chief Responds



Video One



Video Two

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