A line of fast-moving storms that hit metro Atlanta shortly after 4 p.m. brought heavy rain and threatening storms that are expected to continue through the evening.
Georgia Power said at 8 p.m. 300 active outages left 22,493 people without electricity.
Thunderstorm activity Thursday evening over the airfield of Hartsfield-Jackson drove 55 diversions of Delta flights to 14 airports across the Southeast, a spokesman for the company said shortly after 9 p.m.
Rain started falling in Tucker and Lillburn shortly after 4 p.m., before moving toward Bethesda, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz said.
“This line of severe weather has developed in southern parts of Alabama and the Florida pan handle,” Nitz said. As the storms move east, severe stroms to the south tend to halt the energy of severe weather entering the metro Atlanta area, he said.
An area including parts of Carroll County and reaching from northwest Georgia to southwest Georgia has the greatest risk of experiencing that more severe weather. That tract of land includes Rome and a western strip of Calhoun and LaGrange.
Showers will continue, but storms are expected to clear out overnight and into Friday morning, Nitz said. By Friday afternoon the skies will be sunny again, Nitz said.
The main line of storms will drench areas from northwest of Atlanta through the metro area around midnight, and rain will slow around 2 a.m. Friday. It should taper off completely by 5 a.m., and the sun will start peeking through the clouds Friday afternoon.
“Saturday’s gorgeous, 74 degrees,” meteorologist Karen Minton said. “But wouldn’t you know? Easter Sunday, it’s going to be wet. We’ll see showers in the area, scattered storms too.”
Temperatures climbed to the low 70s in the afternoon.
They were 64 degrees in Atlanta, 60 degrees in Blairsville and 64 degrees in Griffin at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
The warmer weather means the pollen count is on the upswing again.
Thursday's count was 2,759 particles of pollen per cubic meter of air — just under the highest pollen count of the season so far Saturday at 2,890 particles. However, that was still less than last year's season high of 6,152 on April 9.
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