[UPDATE]: Ian strengthened Monday afternoon to a Category 2 hurricane as it moves closer to Cuba and the United States. It is expected to reach Category 3 status sometime Tuesday morning, according to Channel 2 Action News, and become a Category 4 hurricane by the time it reaches landfall on the west coast of Florida. Officials said they plan to close St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport at 1 p.m. Tuesday, and some residents in Pinellas County have been ordered to evacuate.
[ORIGINAL STORY]: As Hurricane Ian strengthens and bears down on the Gulf Coast, weather in North Georgia looks pretty nice over the next few days.
North Georgia is on the dry side of the tropical system and should stave off the rain through at least mid-week, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan. It won’t be until Friday or Saturday the region starts to feel the impacts from Ian, which is expected to become a major hurricane before making landfall along the Florida coast.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“It’s going to be dry, it’s going to be sunny, and it’s going to be seasonable,” Monahan said of the local forecast. “Temperatures will be in the 70s to about 80 degrees. Late week, that’s when we’ve got to watch Ian pretty closely.”
Monday should be “nothing but sunshine,” he said. Temperatures will be about average all day, with lows in the 60s to start the morning and a projected high of 80 degrees this afternoon, according to Channel 2.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Even cooler weather is in store Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monahan expects the city to wake up to temperatures in the 50s starting Tuesday morning, and the mountains could see numbers in the 40s. Highs in the upper 70s are in the forecast each day, he said.
It’s shaping up to be a great first full week of fall for North Georgia. In the tropics, conditions are turning volatile. Ian strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning in the Caribbean Sea, and forecasters predict it will become a Category 3 or even Category 4 storm before weakening and making U.S. landfall.
The current storm track predictions have Hurricane Ian hitting the west coast of Florida sometime Thursday morning, according to Monahan. That path would put North Georgia right in the forecast cone, he said, and heavy rain and strong winds are likely to end the week.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Sunday afternoon that he has ordered the activation on Monday of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s State Operations Center, saying state officials are “leaving nothing to chance” as they monitor the storm’s evolution.
While watches and warnings have been issued along the Florida coast, there are no current weather alerts in Georgia.
“Between today and Thursday, nothing,” Monahan said of the rainfall forecast. “You can see all the rain down here down in Florida and far South Georgia, but we’re dry here in North Georgia. Then that changes in a big way Friday and Saturday, depending on exactly how far west this storm tracks.”
By Saturday, parts of metro Atlanta could record up to 2 inches of rainfall, and areas east of the city could get as many as 4 inches, according to the latest forecast.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.
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