SATURDAY’S WEATHER | Afternoon highs remain in the 70s ahead of cold front

If you have been enjoying the warmer weather as spring approaches, Saturday may be your last chance to soak up the 70s until the end of next week.

A cold front that will drastically drop temperatures by Monday will move in on Sunday night, but before then, metro Atlanta will reach a high of 73 degrees on Saturday, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz said.

The day will start off mostly cloudy and overcast conditions will gradually clear during the morning hours. Morning lows will be in the high 50s across the metro.

Nitz said quite a bit of sunshine is anticipated during the day Saturday. A slight breeze will be felt coming from the west.

Clouds move back in by Saturday evening and showers will sweep across metro Atlanta and parts of Middle Georgia on Sunday morning. The chance for rain in the metro remains at 40%.

“I expect the bulk of the rain, certainly the heaviest rain, to pass to our south. But as it passes by, some scattered showers locally,” Nitz said.

The first round of storms will occur between about 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the second round will begin around 3 p.m.

A cold front will move into the state from the north around 5 p.m. It’s this cold air that will set us up for incoming chilly temperatures on Monday, though Sunday will already be cooler with a high of 66 degrees expected in Atlanta.

“Tracking cold air to start spring. Remember, spring begins officially on Tuesday. And by Tuesday morning, we could be talking about a freeze across much of the area and wind chill as well,” Nitz said.

By Tuesday morning, temperatures will be near or below freezing with a wind chill in the 20s, Nitz said. Afternoon temperatures will linger in the upper 50s on Monday and Tuesday, until rising into the mid-60s by Wednesday and back into the 70s by Thursday.