THURSDAY’S WEATHER-TRAFFIC: Higher temperatures but less sunshine

North Georgia will get a little warmer Thursday, but it will do so without quite as much sunshine as the day before.

Temperatures are headed for the mid-50s Thursday afternoon, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan. The warmer air will move in with some more clouds, which will mean fewer hours of sunshine than on Wednesday, he said.

Don’t discount Thursday on account of the cloudy conditions.

“A better day, a warmer day today, and we’re not dealing with the wind, either, we were dealing with yesterday,” Monahan said.

It is still cold Thursday morning with temperatures in the 20s and 30s, but there is no gusty wind to make it feel any colder.

“The temperature that you see, maybe on the car thermometer, is what it actually feels like today,” Monahan said. “We do not have that factor of the wind chill.”

By the afternoon, Atlanta is expected to reach 53 degrees, according to Channel 2. There is no rain in the forecast Thursday, but a cold front moving in overnight could make for a rainy start Friday.

Monahan expects showers will begin moving into northwest Georgia by 11 p.m. tonight.

“Mainly before you wake up tomorrow morning, maybe just as you’re waking up tomorrow, we’re going to see some of that rain come across metro Atlanta,” he said. “It’s going to leave some wet roads, though, for the morning drive.”

More sunshine is in the forecast Friday afternoon before the next chance of rain “slides in Friday night into Saturday morning,” Monahan said.

“There is some rain, but its mainly overnight both days,” he said.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

There are no major delays on metro Atlanta interstates as the Thursday morning rush kicks off, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Even the Perimeter is moving smoothly at 6:30 a.m.

“I’m going to say I-285 is lighter than normal so far,” traffic reporter Mark Arum said. “The trip times are wide open.”

For drivers headed north on I-285, the trip from I-20 to I-75 on the Westside was only 8 minutes, and the trip from I-20 to I-85 on the Eastside was 11 minutes, according to the Traffic Center.