The mercury was expected to climb into the 90s across metro Atlanta on Friday for the 13th consecutive day, but the forecast is offering a sliver of hope that the heat wave will weaken a bit early next week.
While Atlanta’s highs this week have been generally in the mid-90s, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton is forecasting highs of 92 on Saturday and Sunday, but only 90 degrees on Monday and Tuesday.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service are predicting a high on Tuesday of 89. If that occurs, the string of 90-plus days would end at 16.
"By the end of the weekend the ridge weakens some and allows our temperatures to dip," Minton said. "Tuesday and Wednesday look like the days for upper 80s."
Atlanta’s record for consecutive days with temperatures in the 90s or above is 38, set in 1986, according to Alex Gibb, a Weather Service forecaster. The second-longest streak was 34 days in 1993.
On Thursday, scattered thunderstorms dropped some much-needed rain on parts of north Georgia, while other areas were rain-free.
The Weather Service reported no rain at Atlanta‘s official gauge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which has been bone dry all month.
The city’s deficit for the month is 1.03 inches, while the deficit for the year has grown to 1.76 inches.
But just 20 miles south of Hartsfield in McDonough, one of Thursday’s pop-up thunderstorms dumped .72 inch of rain, the Weather Service reported.
Minton said there's only a slight chance of a thunderstorm on Saturday, but a better chance Sunday.
"Sunday a front will slip closer to the state," she said, "and showers and thundershowers will be more widespread -- about a 30 percent chance of showers and storms on Sunday. You will still be able to get outdoors this weekend, but Sunday you may have to dodge a few showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening."
The lack of rain in recent weeks is beginning to show in the level of Lake Lanier, but not so much at Lake Allatoona, the metro area’s other major reservoir.
Lanier’s level on Friday of 1,068.64 feet above sea level was 2.36 feet below full pool. The level has been dropping this week at a rate of about an inch per day.
Allatoona, however, was only 6 inches below the full pool level on Friday.
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