North Georgia is drying out Friday after multiple rounds of storms brought soaking rain the day before.
Atlanta picked up nearly an inch of rainfall Thursday when the weather systems moved through the region. While hail was reported in parts of the northeast, most of the severe weather stayed well to the south.
RELATED: At least 3 tornadoes touch down in South, central Georgia
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said all that’s left of Thursday’s soggy weather are a few sprinkles and showers associated with a passing cold front.
“The front that brought us all that weather yesterday is moving away, and as it does we'll see increasing sunshine through the afternoon,” he said. “By late afternoon, we're looking at a partly to mostly sunny sky and temperatures are pretty nice in the mid-to low 70s.”
Atlanta’s projected high is 74 degrees, while areas in the mountains could see highs in the upper 60s, according to Channel 2. Monahan said that is typical of a late April afternoon.
“It will be a nice finish to the work week today,” he said.
The mild conditions will continue into the weekend, but it won’t be dry the entire time. Showers and the chance for more thunderstorms are in the forecast for Saturday afternoon.
Saturday will not be a washout, Monahan said.
“It’s not going to be widespread,” he said. “Up in the mountains, that’s where we'll see the best chance for a little bit of rain.”
Saturday will start dry before a quick-moving cold front comes in for the afternoon, he said. The front will spread rain over the mountains and the northeastern Atlanta suburbs.
Metro Atlanta and areas to the north are under a Level 1 threat of severe weather Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. That is the lowest-level risk out of 5.
“An isolated strong storm is possible,” Monahan said. “The main risk would be hail and some stronger wind gusts.”
Once the cold front passes by, he said the nice weather returns for the second half of the weekend. North Georgia will turn a little cooler with afternoon highs in the upper 60s, but it should stay dry Sunday and into the start of next week, according to the latest forecast.
Those headed out Friday could see increased traffic on the interstates with more Georgia businesses getting back to work. Friday is the first day some businesses are reopening since the coronavirus outbreak.
Overall, conditions remain lighter than normal across metro Atlanta, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. One slow zone in Cobb County was reported at 6 a.m.
A crash investigation was blocking all but one left lane on I-75 North at Ga. 5, the Traffic Center reported. Motorists can use U.S. 41 to avoid the delays into Kennesaw.
» 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.
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