Wednesday is starting very wet for most of North Georgia, but it won’t end that way.
Most neighborhoods are waking up to pouring rain and thunderstorms. According to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan, the downpours should clear out by about 9 or 10 a.m., and the region will turn much drier.
Until it does, Monahan said motorists could have a rough go on wet roads. Some areas have already recorded an inch to even 2 inches of rainfall Wednesday, according to Channel 2, and the rain is still coming down.
“It is messy. It is soggy. It is wet,” Monahan said. “It’s a morning to leave lots of extra time for your commute.”
Waves of heavy rain are moving west to east on Wednesday morning. While conditions are beginning to improve in northwest Georgia, it is still very wet from Gainesville to metro Atlanta as commuters get their start Wednesday.
Any severe weather should stay well to the south of the city, Monahan said. The National Weather Service considers some North Georgia counties to be at a marginal risk for severe storms, and the risk increases further south.
A tornado watch has been issued for South Georgia until 1 p.m.
“Slow things down out there this morning,” Monahan said. “Gonna be a lot of issues out there. We’re mainly dry by lunchtime and headed home from work, a different story from the last couple of days. It gets drier as the day goes on today.”
Monahan expects peeks of sunshine by 1 p.m. as temperatures climb into the low 60s. Atlanta’s projected high is 60 degrees, which is four degrees below average and 20 degrees below Sunday’s record-setting high.
Temperatures are trending up for the rest of the work week, ending Friday with a projected high of 67 degrees. It might feel like spring with mild temperatures and daily storms, but Monahan said North Georgia is not done with winter weather yet.
A blast of cold air is headed this way Friday night, he said.
“In fact, by Saturday, temperatures are only in the afternoon going to be in the 30s and 40s,” he said. “It’s going to stay cold all the way through Saturday night into Sunday, and Saturday morning we could see some flurries and snow showers.”
On Sunday morning, lows are expected to be in the 20s, according to the latest forecast.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Multiple crashes have been reported Wednesday morning on wet roads. While there are no longstanding interstate closures at 6:30 a.m., conditions are sluggish on all routes headed into the city, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.
Some of the worst delays are on I-20, where trip times are climbing on both the east and west sides, the Traffic Center reported.
» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.
» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.
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