Lightning burns Gwinnett County home

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lightning is believed to be the cause of a fire that damaged a Buford home Friday night, Gwinnett County fire officials said.

No one was injured in the blaze, which started shortly after 7 p.m. in the 250 block of Roberts Street, Gwinnett fire Lt. Eric Eberly said. A family of four was displaced by the fire, which caused extensive damage to the one-story home.

Investigators have yet to determine what caused a fire that destroyed a large home in the 100 block of River Close in Sandy Springs  Friday night. "It's very possible" the fire was weather-related, said Sandy Springs Fire Chief Jack McElfish. No one was hurt in the blaze.

As predicted, the rain made its way into the metro Atlanta area Friday afternoon, and storms lingered throughout the evening. Lightning is the main threat in the storms, which are expected to linger for several days, WSB-TV meteorologist Glenn Burns said.

"The storms aren't severe or very strong, but they're bringing a lot of lightning, typical for July," Burns said Friday night.

At 5 p.m., showers moved through the Sandy Springs and Roswell area, and appeared to be moving in a northeast direction toward Buford and Lake Lanier, WSB-TV meteorologist Brad Nitz said. Storms later returned to the Lake Lanier and Buford area.

Heavy showers also rolled through the Rome area, dumping heavy rain and cloud-to-ground lightning, Nitz said.

Afternoon and evening storms are expected Saturday, and there is a 60 percent of rain and thunderstorms, Nitz said.

"With the heat of the day, we'll start to pick up some rain," Nitz said.

High temperatures should reach the upper 80s on Saturday, Nitz said. Sunday will also be mostly cloudy, with a 40 percent chance of rain.

By mid-week, high temperatures are expected to climb into the middle 90s, Nitz said.

--Staff writer Christian Boone contributed to this report