Many of Saturday’s Independence Day celebrations could be a washout if forecasts of as much as 4 inches of rain through Sunday morning come true.
Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz said that while metro Atlanta was seeing a lull in the showers Friday afternoon, “there is much more rain back in parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, and that’s going to bring more widespread, intense rain back into north Georgia.”
Nitz said he expected that widespread rain, with embedded thunderstorms, to move back into metro Atlanta late Friday night and linger through Saturday morning’s AJC Peachtree Road Race.
His race forecast is for weather “similar to what we had [Friday] morning – localized areas of heavy downpours and otherwise widespread, moderate rain,” Nitz said.
“So, as you make your plans for the Fourth of July and the Peachtree Road Race, there are going to be some showers around,” he said.
Nitz said that while there will be some scattered storms across metro Atlanta for Saturday night’s fireworks shows, “the widespread rain will be confined to the morning hours.”
Nitz said the chance of rain is 70 percent Saturday, diminishing slightly to 60 percent on Sunday.
Afternoon highs will be in the low to mid-80s, with morning lows in the low 70s.
Flash flood warnings posted for the northern suburbs after a strong thunderstorm dumped up to 2 inches of rain Friday morning expired later in the afternoon, but the soggy forecast prompted the National Weather Service to put most of north Georgia under a flash flood watch for much of the holiday weekend.
The flash flood watch in in effect through Sunday morning for areas of the state north of I-20.
“Periods of heavy rain will move across north and central Georgia through Sunday morning with an additional 2 to 4 inches of rainfall,” the Weather Service said on Friday. “Saturated soil from rainfall over the past few days, along with the additional rainfall expected, may cause flash flooding of roadways, creeks and low-lying areas.”
In Gainesville, 2.1 inches of rain was recorded Friday morning, with 1.64 inches falling between 7 and 8 a.m.
Other rainfall totals included .82 inch in Alpharetta and .74 inch in Dunwoody. Friday morning’s heavy rain in north Fulton and Forsyth counties prompted the Weather Service to issue a flood warning for Big Creek, which was expected to crest about 2 feet above flood stage.
Atlanta’s southern suburbs were also getting pounded by strong storms Friday morning, with severe thunderstorm warnings being issued for parts of Fulton, Clayton, Henry, Fayette, Rockdale, Carroll and Coweta counties. The Weather Service reported that the storms downed several trees near Ga. 155 and Jodeco Road in Henry County.
Outside the metro area, flood warnings were posted for parts of Clarke, Oglethorpe, Madison and Jackson counties in northeast Georgia and Walker, Chattooga and Floyd counties in the northwest corner of the state.
About the Author
