Daily Weather Briefing for Monday, January 30, 2017

…Snow possible from the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes to the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic…

…High winds possible for portions of the northern plains…

A series of upper-level troughs will bring snow to areas from the Upper Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Monday. The first upper-level trough will move from the Ohio valley toward the Mid-Atlantic coast tonight, sparking the development of a low pressure system along the Mid-Atlantic coast. A broad area of snow showers is occurring this afternoon across the Great Lakes as well as portions of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Snow will begin to spread east across the Appalachians and into the Mid-Atlantic tonight. As the new system begins to organize across the Mid-Atlantic region, a band of moderate snowfall is possible across portions of the Delmarva and southern New Jersey. Snow will come to an end across the Mid-Atlantic Monday morning as the low pressure system pulls away into the Atlantic Ocean. A second fast-moving low pressure system will develop across the northern plains early Monday in response to a vigorous upper-level disturbance. An area of snow will develop in association with this system Monday morning across the Upper Midwest, which will then spread east across the Upper Great Lakes through the day Monday. Additionally, high wind gusts in excess of 60 mph are possible across the northern plains on Monday in the wake of this system. By Monday night into Tuesday, snow associated with this second system is expected to spread into the Lower Great Lakes as well as the Northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic.

Most of the western U.S. will remain dry through the short range as high pressure remains overhead. Late Monday into Tuesday, an upper-level disturbance will move into the Northwest bringing scattered areas of snow, and coastal rain. A colder air mass moving into the northern plains will strengthen a frontal zone across the northern High Plains and northern Rockies, which could serve to enhance snowfall across these areas by Tuesday.

Temperatures on Monday will be 5 to 15 degrees below average across much of the eastern U.S., but will warm to slightly above average for most areas by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the central U.S. will remain warmer than average through the short range, with temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal.

DAY SPONSOR

Carrion Tree Service is underwriting the daily weather briefing and public safety updates for today. they are a fully licensed and insured tree service, specializing in dangerous tree removal, view clearing, pruning, and crane services with a 24 Hour emergency response.

Their phone number is 371-4718. They are located at 120 Depot Street.

They can handle all your tree removal needs in good or bad weather.

LOCAL OVERVIEW

An upper level trough will persist over the eastern part of the country through Monday, keeping temperatures near to slightly below normal. An upper level ridge and relatively warm high pressure builds in from the west for the middle of the week. Then a cold front will drop south into the region on Thursday, bringing cooler temperatures in for next weekend.

THREE DAY OUTLOOK

Monday

Partly sunny with with decreasing clouds with highs near the lower 40s and winds from the northwest around 10 mph.

Monday Night

Mostly clear with lows near the mid to upper 20s. Winds out of the northwest calming before midnight.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny with highs near 60 and variable light winds in the morning shifting to come out of the west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

Partly cloudy with lows near the mid 30s and winds out of the west calming before midnight.

Wednesday

Partly sunny with highs near 60.

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with lows near the mid to upper 30s.

HAZARDS

No hazardous weather expected. Overnight snow flurries may leave some of the roads slick. The NCDOT has been out treating the roads, so most of them should be okay, but please exercise caution and drive a little slower this morning on your commute. Less than an inch accumulation in the valleys is expected.

As always, you can check to see what advisories, watches and warnings are in effect for Macon County by visiting http://is.gd/MACONWARN

The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for our area, the full text of which is posted below…

..MONDAY…Winter weather possible. Snow showers are expected to continue into monday morning before tapering off in the afternoon. While accumulations should be confined to the tennessee border counties from the smokies north… The high elevations of Graham…northern Buncombe…And northern Jackson counties could receive 1 to 3 inches of snow… While valley communities in these counties could see a dusting.

MACON CALENDAR

If you have an event you wish to be added to this calendar, please send the information, along with a flyer of photo, to [email protected]
There is no charge for civic, educational or non profit groups.

PRAYERS AGAINST DRUGS

There will be a “Prayers Against Drugs” rally on Friday at 6 pm at the Courthouse Square in downtown Franklin for those who are interested in participating in the spiritual warfare against the epidemic of drug abuse in our community. Read more about it at http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/prayers-against-drugs-rally-scheduled.html

MARDI GRAS DINNER TO BENEFIT REACH OF MACON COUNTY

A Mardi Gras Dinner to benefit REACH of Macon County will be held at Root + Barrel Kitchen on Main Street on Tuesday, February 28th at 6:30 pm.
Reserved tickets are $75 and open seating is $60.
More information is on the flyer posted here.

Weather Extremes Almanac for January 30, 2017

North Carolina

High Temperature 83ºF in High Point, Guilford County in 1947
Low Temperature -26ºF on Grandfather Mountain, Avery County in 1966
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.20 inches in Franklin, Macon County in 1875
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 19.8 inches in Harmony, Iredell County in 1905

Macon County

High Temperature 76ºF at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2002
Low Temperature -14ºF in Highlands in 1966
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.20 inches in Franklin, Macon County in 1875
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 3.5 inches in Highlands in 1981

Astronomy

Twilight Begins: 7:07 am
Sunrise: 7:34 am
Sunset 6:00 pm
Twilight Ends: 6:27 pm
Day Length: 11 hours 20 minutes

Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent with 8% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated
Moonrise 9:12 am
Moonset 8:56 pm

Observing the Skies

Evening Events and Planets