WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: I-85 in Gwinnett slow on ‘boring’ weather day ahead of wet Saturday

ATLANTA FORECAST

Friday: High: 57

Friday night: Low: 46

Saturday: High: 62

» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.

Atlanta is hovering at its expected high temperature of 57 degrees, and traffic remains fairly mild aside from Gwinnett County during Friday’s evening commute.

It’s an overall “boring” weather day, as Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan called it.

This morning definitely wasn’t boring on the roads, since drivers struggled to see in North Georgia through dense fog.

Visibility dropped to a quarter-mile at one point, leading to reports of slow-moving traffic and crashes. By noon, visibility was better, and the number of incidents on metro Atlanta interstates was down, and the evening commute only has a few trouble spots.

The slowest area near Atlanta is the Outer Loop in Fulton County near Ashford Dunwoody Road, where a crash has two center lanes blocked,  according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

However, drivers on I-85 North near Hamilton Mill Road in Gwinnett County are enduring hefty delays after a crash blocked all lanes, the Traffic Center reported. It’s recommended to take Ga. 124 as an alternate.

It was dry Friday, but Saturday is pretty much guaranteed to be wet — a 100 percent chance of rain sounds pretty grim.

A strong system is expected to bring a cold front, heavy rain and a chance for isolated strong storms through North Georgia on Saturday.

“Maybe you can ditch that warm winter coat (Friday),” Monahan said. “But don’t forget where you put it. You’re going to need it for this weekend.”

“The models have been speeding up the timing of this system — now bringing it through metro Atlanta late afternoon/early evening,” Monahan said. “In the morning, we’ll just have fog with scattered light showers and drizzle.”

The Storm Prediction Center indicates a marginal risk of severe storms over much of the western half of the area. The main threat is wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph and heavy rain, according to Channel 2. An isolated brief tornado is possible.

“For most of us, the line will come through with just heavy rain — an inch or more of rain is possible across the area,” he said.

Temperatures are expected to drop after the front passes through Saturday night.

“Getting a lot of questions about a winter mix potential Sunday morning,” Monahan said. “Yes, there is a chance. But it'll be light mixed showers over the mountains. I don't expect any major impacts from it.”

The front is projected to bring the coldest morning of the season Monday, when the nation is observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Lows will be in the teens and 20s with highs in the low 40s,” Monahan said. “We’ll bounce back toward 50 on Tuesday before our next weather system brings rain to the area on Wednesday.”

» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.