THURSDAY’S WEATHER: Atlanta could set a heat record in the last hours of summer

It may feel like midsummer in Atlanta on Thursday, but fall weather should arrive right on time this evening.

A cold front moving through the region after sunset will be nearly perfectly timed for the fall equinox at 9:03 p.m. and the official start of fall, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan. Temperatures will drop on the other side of the front, setting up Atlanta for a cool start Friday on the first full day of the new season.

“We get kind of a weather makeover tonight,” Monahan said. “From the summertime heat today — feeling like July and August — to feeling great tomorrow. We’re going to go from 94 today down to 80 degrees.”

Gooooood morning!

Near record highs today, but a weather overhaul coming tonight as fall begins -- tracking a cold front!

I'm updating our rain chances now through 7am on Channel 2. @wsbtv
— Brian Monahan, WSB (@BMonahanWSB) September 22, 2022

Thursday’s projected high is just one degree shy of the record of 95, which was set in 1940. Temperatures in Atlanta are typically in the low 80s at the end of summer, and Monahan is calling for below-average temperatures for the first day of fall.

The cold front Thursday will also come with a 20% chance of a shower, but Monahan said any rain activity should be spotty. Still, he said it’s a good idea to send kids to school with an umbrella just in case. The day will start warm and sunny in the upper 60s before clouds and rain chances increase this afternoon.

“For most of us, this front passes through the area dry, and by tomorrow morning we wake up to sunshine, cooler temperatures and a beautiful day on your Friday,” he said.

Atlanta should start Friday at 60 degrees, and there will be 40s and 50s outside the Perimeter, according to Monahan.

There is no rain in Saturday’s forecast, but the heat will turn up slightly with a projected high of 84 degrees for Atlanta. Sunday will be even warmer with a high of 88, and Monahan is calling for a 40% chance of a shower or thunderstorm.

Remember when the tropics were "so quiet?"

That was nice. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/hu4db4AtOz
— Brian Monahan, WSB (@BMonahanWSB) September 21, 2022

North Georgia’s weather conditions are quiet compared to activity in the tropics, where Hurricane Fiona and Tropical Storm Gaston are churning in the Atlantic. Neither storm is likely to impact weather locally, but Monahan said another wave in the Caribbean has the potential for tropical development and could move into the Gulf of Mexico over the next week or so.