Metro Atlanta should see less than 1 inch of rain from Hurricane Florence
Metro Atlanta isn’t expected to see any rain from what’s left of Hurricane Florence until Sunday night, according to projections by Channel 2 Action News.
Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, at 7:15 a.m. Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
There’s a 40 percent chance of rain developing locally late in the day Sunday, and storms should continue into Monday, Channel 2 meteorologist Katie Walls said. Most of metro Atlanta should see less than an inch of rain.
It's official: #Florence made landfall at 7:15am near Wrightsville Beach, NC Wind gust in Wilmington in past few minutes was 105 mph. pic.twitter.com/8CuzDtjfKY
— Karen Minton (@KarenMintonWSB) September 14, 2018
Those planning to attend Music Midtown this weekend will likely need to plan more around 90-plus degree heat rather than rain, Channel 2 reported. Rain clouds could loom when Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar take the stage in the 8 p.m. hour Sunday, but the day should be mostly dry.
RELATED: Music Midtown 2018 unveils daily schedule, ticket upgrade option
Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm near Wrightsville Beach, N.C., outside Wilmington at 7:15 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center.
“On the forecast track, the center of Florence will move further inland across extreme southeastern North Carolina and extreme eastern South Carolina today and Saturday,” the Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. “Florence will then move generally northward across the western Carolinas and the central Appalachian Mountains early next week.”
If it does reach Georgia, it likely won’t be until Sunday. By then, it could be a tropical depression or area of low pressure.
“We are not expecting any major impacts,” Walls said. “As a matter of fact, as we continue to get in new data, it really looks like the bulk of the wind, the bulk of the rainfall will be staying well to our north and east.”
Gov. Nathan Deal has issued a state of emergency for all 159 Georgia counties ahead of the storm.
MORE: Georgia governor declares a state of emergency as Florence nears
High pressure north of Hurricane Florence will stall it near the coast. A slow turn to the west is expected to follow.
— Brad Nitz (@BradNitzWSB) September 12, 2018
I'll show you how the steering winds will affect the storm's path live on @wsbtv in a few minutes. pic.twitter.com/24y9gzcW1U
The brunt of Florence’s impact should be felt in the northeast corner of the state, and it won’t be much. A couple of inches of rain are possible, according to Channel 2. The mountains could see six inches of rain and minor flooding.
“In terms of accumulation, we’re on the light side, especially compared to our friends in the two Carolinas into the two Virginias dealing with some extreme rainfall for the next couple of days,” Walls said.
When forecasting rainfall totals 30, isolated 40 inches we hope that were wrong.
— Brad Nitz (@BradNitzWSB) September 14, 2018
unfortunately we are already seeing 30 inch totals! https://t.co/FHD6kSmBcv
Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz said he doesn’t anticipate power outages will be a problem.
“If it takes this track, our local impacts will be significantly less than what we felt a year ago when Irma, as a tropical storm, came through,” he said.
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About the Authors
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
