If you haven’t planted spring plants yet, don’t.
A spring freeze is on the way.
Metro Atlanta got lucky Monday. Sunshine and above average temperatures replaced chilly morning conditions — just in time for the Atlanta Braves' season opener. But the mild weather won't last.
“A cold front’s on the way,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said. “It’s still far to our north, but as it slides to our area, the wind strength is going to pick up.”
Gaining wind speeds Monday were early signs of the cold front — a precursor to another front expected to send Atlanta temperatures into the upper 30s by Saturday.
Wind speeds, at 9 mph before 2 p.m., will reach 20 mph Monday before they back off later Monday night.
Temperatures were 72 degrees in Atlanta, 66 degrees in Blairsville and 72 degrees in Griffin just before 2 p.m. And pollen was down.
Temps will hit 73 degrees by the 4:10 p.m. start of the Braves' opener, then drop to 70 degrees by 7 p.m.
The count, which had been increasing after showers passed through late last week, dropped to 716 particles of pollen per cubic meter of air Monday.
That's down from the current season high of 4,107 particles Tuesday and under last year's season high was 6,152 particles on April 9.
The metro area will stay dry over the next few days, then showers will hit Wednesday night into Thursday morning, when there’s an 80 percent chance of precipitation.
Wet weather will cool temperatures later this week as the metro area starts a downward trend of below-average temperatures.
Highs will drop to the upper 60s Tuesday, then the upper 50s Friday.
“On Friday, it’s sunny, it’s windy, it’s colder,” Minton said. “We’re not getting out of the 50s.”
It’ll be even colder Saturday, with 30-degree weather widespread in metro Atlanta.
“We’ll be going from flip-flops today to Uggs by Saturday morning as that very cold air really begins to make its way into our region,” Minton said. “So look forward to some of those chilly temperatures.”
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