Heavy traffic expected on hot, muggy weekend

Print
E-mail

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta's hot and muggy weather will continue into the weekend, with forecasters predicting a 30 to 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms.

I-285 open after crash

More Atlanta area news »

Afternoon highs should remain in the 90s throughout the weekend, WSB-TV meteorologist Karen Minton said.

The mercury topped out at 94 degrees on Thursday, making it the 14th consecutive day of readings in the 90s. Atlanta's normal high for late June is 88 degrees.

The chance of rain and thunderstorms is 40 percent on Friday and Sunday, and 30 percent on Saturday.

Those storms could put a damper on Braves home games this weekend at Turner Field. The Braves play the Detroit Tigers at 7:35 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The state Department of Transportation warned that downtown streets could be jammed this weekend by a Seventh-day Adventist Church conference that began this week at the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center. The event is expected to draw around 70,000 people to the area on Saturday, according to DOT spokesman Paul Marshall.

Major traffic delays are also predicted for a stretch of I-20 in DeKalb County, where road crews will be repaving the interstate.

Weather permitting, crews will be closing the two left lanes of I-20 westbound from the Fairington Road overpass to Wesley Chapel Road, beginning at 9 p.m. Friday and continuing until 5 a.m. on Monday.

"We had significant backups last weekend all the way to West Avenue in Conyers, primarily on Saturday afternoon," said DOT district construction engineer Mickey McGee. "We are putting more changeable signs out for this weekend to try to let people know what's going on."