Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County.
GENERAL OUTLOOK
A stationary front located just south of our area moves north as a warm front today and washes out across our area, but giving us a cooler day because of clouds and a few showers. After that, expect a warming trend through the weekend and into next week as high pressure takes over. A weak cold front is expected to approach from the northwest in the middle of next week.
• Macon County Launches the Community Health Assessment Survey to Help Better Understand Resident Health and Opportunities for Improvement [Macon Media]
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Sunday Night
Franklin Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-to-upper 60s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 50s. Light winds out of the northeast.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the lower 70s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 50.
Highlands Plateau
Today
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly between 10am and 5pm. Patchy fog between 9am and noon. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs in the upper 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight
A slight chance of showers before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers after 4am. Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows around 50. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain is 20%.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 60s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows around 50. Winds out of the southeast 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 60s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 50.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly between 9am and 3pm. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Light and variable winds early in the morning increasing to come out of the northeast around 5 mph by midmorning.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 50s. Winds out of the northeast around 5 mph.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with highs near 70. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 70s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 50s.
Nantahala Area
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers after 11am. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the southeast 3 to 8 mph.
Tonight
A 20 percent chance of showers before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the upper 60s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 50s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 70s.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 50.
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Hazards
Hazardous weather is not expected today or tonight.
Pollen
Pollen levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (9.5 out of 12) today with Maple, Birch, and Oak being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (7.7 out of 12.0).
Record Weather Events for April 26th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 91°F in Franklin in 1986
Lowest Temperature 23°F in Highlands in 1919
Greatest One-Day Rain 3.24 inches in Highlands in 1939 (also the state record)
Greatest One-Day Snowfall (no snowfall has been recorded on this date since record-keeping began in 1871)
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of April Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 91°F in Franklin on 04-26-1986
Lowest Temperature 13°F in Highlands on 04-01-1987
Greatest Rainfall 7.00 inches in Highlands on 04-07-1895
Greatest Snowfall 9.5 inches in Franklin on 04-04-1987
Record Weather Events for April 26th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 97°F in Lewiston, Bertie County in 1990
Lowest Temperature 19°F in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 2005
Greatest Rainfall 3.24 inches in Highlands, Macon County in 1939
Greatest Snowfall 2.5 inches in Grandfather Mountain, Avery County in 1978
(the excessive rainfall was due to the remnants of Hurricane Gladys)
--> Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of April Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 102°F in Carthage, Moore County on 04-29-1981
Lowest Temperature 1°F in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 04-08-2007
Greatest Rainfall 7.30 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 04-16-2011
Greatest Snowfall 19.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 04-11-2003
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
Music Lineup for Friends of the Greenway, Inc.
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
April 2024 Schedule
4-27-24—-------------SUPER ADOPTION DAY at Frogs!!
PAWSITIVE (the Macon Co. Animal Shelter Volunteers) and AARC (the Appalachian Animal Rescue Center) will be conducting a great Adoption Day on the outside, while on the inside several of our area talented musicians will bring their talents to Frog Quarters. On the slate are:
George James
Bill Peterson
The Shifty Sisters
Charley Simmons
Dave Stewart
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!
2nd Annual Youth Mental Health Rally and March
Sunday, April 28, 2024 From 2pm to 5pm
Organized and presented by Gracie Parker/Why Us Kids? Come join us for the 2nd Annual Youth Mental Health Rally at the Gazebo, downtown Franklin NC to raise awareness to the youth mental health crisis in our community, county and State. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/events/3684885531726614
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---
Court filing claims NC State destroyed or altered evidence in Poe Hall | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
Autopsy reveals gruesome details in Macon County murder-suicide | WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)
• Rep. Chuck Edwards sanctioned by House commission over communications rules violation [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• Lowering U.S. and NC Flags to Half-Staff in Honor of Former NC Judge John C. Martin [Macon Media]
• Report: Western NC camp staffer and camp responsible for NY child's death in 'bivy' [Asheville Citizen-Times]
• (video) NC lawmakers focus on budget goals for 2024 short session [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• Under the Dome: Welcome to the 2024 legislative session [Raleigh News and Observer]
• Sylva Pride won’t apply again for parade permit; citizen group plans to march anyway [BPR]
America and China fight for mineral monopoly | Caspian Report
Myanmar conflict: Insurgent groups and the military junta battle for control | DW News
• Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns as transitional council is sworn in [BBC News]
• Burkina Faso soldiers massacred over 200 civilians in a day, Human Rights Watch says [Africa News]
• Can Paris still deliver on its Olympic promises with only three months to go? [France 24]
• At least 155 killed in Tanzania as heavy rains pound East Africa [Al Jazeera]
• Why nearly intact Iranian missiles are being found in the Negev - explainer [Jerusalem Post]
---International Conflicts ---
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 25, 2024 [Institute for the Study of War]
• Russo-Ukrainian war, day 792: White House says US can sustain aid through 2024 while Russia targets Balakliya train station [Euromaidan Press]
---PRO-RUSSIAN NEWS OUTLETS---
• Moscow issues diplomatic warning to Washington [Russia Today]
• North group of Russian forces to target Kharkiv as part of major offensive [Pravda]
• Russia says its battlegroup West seized better positions [TASS: Russian News Agency]
Have We Lost the Red Sea? | What Should be the US Strategy Against the Houthis? | What's Going on With Shipping?
Washington Today (4-25-24): Supreme Court in Trump case signals some presidential criminal immunity | C-SPAN
Global National: April 25, 2024 | What led to Harvey Weinstein's overturned 2020 rape conviction?
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - April 25, 2024
"CBS Evening News" Full Broadcast | April 25, 2024
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - April 25, NBC News
PBS NewsHour full episode, (April 25, 2024)
---Science, Technology, Culture, and History News Roundup---
A Beginner's Guide to Our Home Galaxy | ParallaxNick
• The Sky This Week from April 19 to 26: Look out for bright Lyrids [Astronomy Magazine]
• This Week's Sky at a Glance, April 19 – 28 [Sky and Telescope Magazine]
The Level1 Show April 26 2024: P-U-Gi-Oh | Level1 Techs
Stream Fatigue, I'm Out - DTNS 4756 | Daily Tech News Show
• The largest digital camera ever made for astronomy is done [Astronomy Magazine]
• Navigating The Generative AI Divide: Open-Source Vs. Closed-Source Solutions [Forbes Magazine]
• Two Hunters from the Same Lodge Afflicted with Sporadic CJD: Is Chronic Wasting Disease to Blame? [Neurology]
• Attack on Data: How Industries are Suffering Due to a 32% Jump in Harmful Bots [Entrepreneur]
• Researchers develop sodium battery capable of rapid charging in just a few seconds [Tech Xplore]
---Science, Technology, Culture, and History Video Section---
The Strange Mystery of the Hubble Tension | John Michael Godier
What Is The Biggest Thing In The Universe? | The Entire History of the Universe
---COVID News Roundup---
Ep 154 Osterholm Update: H5N1 Uncertainty
Beyond the Noise #36: The misinformation business | Microbe TV
• Accurate evaluation of live-virus microneutralization for SARS-CoV-2 variant JN.1 [BioRxiv (PDF)]
• Officials Failed to Act When COVID Hit Prisons. A New Study Shows the Deadly Cost. [The Marshall Project]
• Computer simulation predicts Australia's COVID-19 vaccine campaign prevented thousands of deaths before Omicron spread [Australia News]
• Biden Revokes COVID Mask Mandate for Federal Employees [FedSmith]
• Covid vaccines aren't linked to sudden death in young people, a new CDC report finds. [NBC News]
• Beyond the Noise #36: The misinformation business [Microbe TV]
• TWiV 1106: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin [Microbe TV]
• TWiV 1107: Uncoating some envelopes [Microbe TV]
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On This Day
April 26 is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 249 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)
1348 – Czech king Karel IV founds the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe.
1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
1478 – The Pazzi family attack on Lorenzo de' Medici kills his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown).
1607 – The Virginia Company colonists make landfall at Cape Henry.
1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rode 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces
1794 – Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1802 РNapoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious ̩migr̩s of the French Revolution to return to France.
1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.
1900 – Fires destroy Canadian cities Ottawa and Hull, reducing them to ashes in 12 hours. 12,000 people are left without a home.
1903 РAtl̩tico Madrid Association football club is founded
1915 – World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers.
1920 – Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games with center Frank Fredrickson scoring seven goals in Canada's 12–1 drubbing of Sweden in the gold medal match.
1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
1933 РThe Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established by Hermann G̦ring.
1933 – Nazi Germany issues the Law Against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limiting the amount of Jewish students able to attend public schools and universities.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
1954 – The first clinical trials of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia.
1956 – SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.
1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.
1962 – NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
1962 – The British space programme launches its first satellite, the Ariel 1.
1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery.
1982 – Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
1986 – The Chernobyl disaster occurs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
1989 – The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
1989 – People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
1991 – Fifty-five tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado.
1993 – The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on mission STS-55 to conduct experiments aboard the Spacelab module.
1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
1994 – South Africa begins its first multiracial election, which is won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.
2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
2005 – Cedar Revolution: Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).
2015 – Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote.
2018 – American comedian Bill Cosby is convicted of sexual assault.
2019 – Marvel Studios' blockbuster film, Avengers: Endgame, is released, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing the previous box office record of Avatar.
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Support Macon Media
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia
Published at 5:00am on Friday, April 26, 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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