WEATHER UPDATE: Flash flood warning issued for parts of metro Atlanta

The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings for metro Atlanta as rain continues to fall Wednesday on already soggy soil.

Scattered showers will be popping up throughout the day, much like the past few days this week. It’s “really gonna be hard to find very many dry hours in our forecast for today,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said.

In the city, most of the heavy rain began in the early afternoon. A flash flood warning was issued around 2:30 p.m. for parts of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties and remains in place through 8:30 p.m.

Between 1 to 2 inches of rain has already fallen in the area, and an additional inch or 2 of rain is possible in the warned areas, according to the NWS.

Flash Flood Warning including Smyrna GA, North Atlanta GA and Mableton GA until 8:30 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/s0Vjwir6Aq
— NWS Atlanta (@NWSAtlanta) June 21, 2023

A flood watch remains in effect through Friday evening in the northeast and southern parts of the state. The NWS said excessive rainfall may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other flood-prone areas.

The summer solstice at 9:57 a.m. makes Wednesday the longest day of the year and the official start to the summer season. Every day forward, daylight hours will slowly dwindle until the winter solstice six months away, which marks the shortest day of the year.

But with more clouds than sunshine, Atlanta will stay cool with a high of just 75 degrees. The average high for this time of year is 88 degrees.

It won’t be much warmer on Thursday, either, with a high of 77 degrees. Things will warm up into the low 80s by Friday, and we’ll be closer to more seasonable temperatures over the weekend. Drier weather is in store for Saturday and Sunday, too, with just a 30% chance of isolated afternoon storms Saturday.