The forecast could not look better to kick off this long holiday weekend, but traffic around metro Atlanta will be no vacation.
The weekend is shaping up perfectly for outdoor activities, with plenty of sun, no rain and hot, but not stifling, temperatures, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz.
“A lot of people are planning outdoor activities for the holiday weekend,” Nitz said. “On the lakes, we’re going to be warm with low humidity, lots of sunshine and the lake levels at full pool, or just about.”
Saturday’s high will reach 85 degrees with a relatively cool low in the early morning hours of about 63. The temperature should be in the mid- to high-60s for the start of day one of the AJC Peachtree Road Race. The 10K race is taking place across two days this year, with the elite runners competing Sunday.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
The weather will stay much the same Sunday, though it will be warmer.
“Mostly sunny and 89 at 4 p.m., which is about right,” Nitz said about Sunday’s forecast. “Our average high is 90 on the 4th of July.”
Looking towards the beginning of next week, Elsa has been upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and is expected to bring rain to Florida and Georgia by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
“This is five days away, so we may have to make some adjustments as to both intensity and ultimate position,” Nitz said. Current models show Elsa taking a course southeast of Atlanta, which would place the city on the weaker side of the storm, Nitz said.
As beautiful as the weather will be this weekend, expect the opposite in terms of traffic around the metro Atlanta area. The holiday means roadwork projects will largely be shut down, but experts are predicting an extremely active travel weekend that should add lots of traffic volume to Atlanta’s roads.
Several major roads in the heart of Atlanta will be shut down for most of the weekend for the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Beginning at 2 a.m. Saturday, partial closures of Peachtree Road from Buckhead to Midtown will begin. In Midtown, 10th Street will also see partial closures between Peachtree Road and Piedmont Park. All road closures related to the race are scheduled to end at 1 p.m. at the latest on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday night, downtown is likely to be jammed with fans flocking to the Atlanta Hawks game at State Farm Arena. The Hawks will face the Milwaukee Bucks at 8:30 p.m. in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals, just their second game of the playoffs in which they will face elimination.
» 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.
» Download The Atlanta Journal-Constitution app for weather alerts on-the-go.
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