Enjoy Tuesday’s dry weather, because the rain is returning to metro Atlanta and the rest of north Georgia in a big way on Wednesday before clearing out in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton a 100 percent chance of rain Wednesday.
“We’re looking at heavy rain, possibly flooding rains in some areas,” she warned, adding that a flood watch that went into effect Monday across all of north Georgia continues through early Thursday.
Forecasters are predicting an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain along and north of a line from LaGrange to Griffin to Athens.
Atlanta’s official rain gauge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has tallied 10.84 inches of rain so far this month, so if at least 2.1 inches of rain falls at the airport, the city will set a new record for December rain, breaking the old record of 12.93 inches set nearly a century ago.
“The rain will be tapering off early in the morning on Thursday, and it’s going to be dry for New Year’s Eve celebrations,” Minton said. “New Year’s Day, it will be sunny and cold, and it will be dry and sunny Saturday and Sunday.”
Minton said highs will be in the upper 60s Tuesday and Wednesday, and in the upper 50s Thursday. Morning lows will be the upper 50s Wednesday and around 50 degrees Thursday.
Temperatures will finally feel more like winter by New Year’s Day, when highs will only reach 50 degrees after starting the day in the low 40s.
The colder weather will continue through the weekend, with highs around 50 degrees and lows in the low 30s.
The storms that dumped about an inch and a half of rain across most of metro Atlanta Monday afternoon had moved into the southeast corner of the state by Tuesday morning.
Monday’s rainfall totals ranged from 1.35 inches in Marietta and 1.48 inches in Dunwoody to 1.52 inches in Chamblee, 1.54 inches at the airport and 1.8 inches in Peachtree City. In the mountains Tuesday, 2.15 inches of rain was recorded in Blairsville, while just over 2 inches fell in Ellijay and Blue Ridge.
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