Rain, storms expected to continue into morning

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 7 a.m. Friday for 44 North Georgia counties including those in the metro Atlanta area.

The watch, which included Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett counties, mentioned isolated severe thunderstorms, possibly with large hail and damaging winds.

John Spink / jspink@ajc.com

A woman crosses the street at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Central Avenue in the rain on Thursday morning.

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A tornado watch, meanwhile, was in effect until 2 a.m. Friday for counties mostly to the northwest of the Atlanta area, the closest being Bartow and Paulding counties.

Heaviest storms were expected before 2 a.m., according to the Weather Service. They were expected to turn Atlanta’s enduring rainfall deficit into a surplus, the first time that’s happened this year.

Thursday’s downpours brought more than an inch of rain to Atlanta, for a yearly total just 0.16 inches below the annual average.

“We should easily get that overnight,” said National Weather Service forecaster Matt Sena. Anywhere from a quarter- to a half-inch of precipitation was expected overnight.

While the rain was heavy in the Atlanta metro area through much of the afternoon, with reports of nickel-sized hail in Duluth and Conyers, the southern part of the state was hit hardest.

Heavy rain made 16 roads in Monroe County north of Macon impassable and prompted officials to close schools at 1:45 p.m. In Crawford County west of Macon, 1.67 inches of rain fell during a 1-hour period before daybreak Thursday.

Schools in 20 Georgia districts and part of I-75 in South Georgia were closed Thursday. Small creeks and streams, along with numerous streets and underpasses, were flooded after two days of rain up to eight inches.

Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said traffic on I-75 northbound at Cordele was being rerouted because of water over the roadway. Heavy rains around Waycross, meanwhile, brought a forecast of moderate flooding along the Satilla River.

The forecast for the metro Atlanta calls for mostly cloudy conditions giving way to sunny skies Friday, with a high near 65 and a west wind around 15 mph gusting to as high as 25 mph. Winds will diminish Friday night, with mostly clear skies and a low around 46.

Saturday is expected to be sunny with a high near 74. A low of 53 is forecast for Saturday night. Rain may return Sunday, with mostly cloudy conditions, a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high near 71.

— Staff writer Mike Morris and the Associated Press contributed to this report.