The showers and thunderstorms that wrecked Wednesday morning's commute and lingered throughout the day have moved on.
The metro Atlanta area picked up 1.69 inches of rain over the past 24 hours, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said. That cut the rainfall deficit for the year to 3.12 inches, he said.
After a cloudy start Thursday, expect increasing sunshine with a high of 73, right at the average for this time of year, he said. Lows will be in the mid 50s.
The chance of rain returns Friday and Saturday at 40 percent each day, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in high 50s to low 60s. Sunday, the chance of rain increases to 60 percent, with highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 50s.
But Burns noted that the weather models are not in agreement about the weekend, and the Channel 2 weather team will continue to fine-tune the forecast.
While rain is needed in the area, it did cause problems early Wednesday.
Deep standing water from the heavy rain forced authorities to shut down the ramp from I-85 southbound to Camp Creek Parkway before 5 a.m. Crews cleared a clogged storm drain, and the ramp reopened at 6:30 a.m.
On I-75, a wreck involving an overturned tractor-trailer hauling candy blocked all southbound lanes at I-675 at 5:30 a.m. Emergency officials finally got one lane reopened at 7 a.m.
Other early interstate crashes included one involving a tractor-trailer and a car that blocked a couple of lanes of I-285 northbound near LaVista Road and another wreck on the ramp from the Downtown Connector southbound to I-20 eastbound.
The state Department of Transportation reported just before 5:30 that deep water was blocking at least one eastbound lane of I-20 near Panola Road in DeKalb County. Just west of there, a wreck blocked two lanes of I-20 eastbound near Wesley Chapel Road at 6:15 a.m.
Also in DeKalb, a truck jackknifed on I-285 northbound near Covington Highway after 5 a.m., the DOT reported.
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