WEATHER-TRAFFIC: Sun begins to set after chilly day; congestion builds in downtown Atlanta

Here's Meteorologist Brad Nitz with your forecast.

A chilly, breezy day is coming to an end, which means Atlanta has a chilly, breezy evening on tap.

Atlanta never escaped the low 40s Monday, and the setting sun means those temperatures will only go down from here, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz said. The city is currently at 41 degrees, but a cold wind has it feeling like only 33 outside.

At the same time, some evening commute issues have popped up on the Downtown Connector, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. The left southbound shoulder is blocked by a crash between University Avenue and Ga. 166, creating delays back to Midtown.

In the same direction, a crash on I-85 South before 17th Street is jamming Ga. 400 back to Lenox Road, according to the Traffic Center.

Downtown surface streets are also struggling after a crash blocked all northbound lanes of Northside Drive between 8th and 10th streets, the Traffic Center reported.

Those delays come after a hectic morning at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Security wait times at the airport, which at one point clocked in at 45 minutes to an hour as Thanksgiving travelers returned home, have subsided. Waits at domestic checkpoints are now less than 15 minutes on average, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

RELATED: Holiday crowds bring traffic, long lines to Hartsfield-Jackson

In addition to the earlier traffic woes, North Georgia kicked off December with some winter weather in the mountains.

Snow flurries were reported in Blairsville and Ellijay on Monday morning as part of the same system that brought snow and ice to parts of Tennessee and Kentucky, according to Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan.

After highs in the 70s Saturday and the upper 50s Sunday, the warm ground was melting most of the flurries on contact.

It stays chilly for Tuesday, but Monahan said the wind will die down overnight. The freezing morning lows Tuesday may be a little easier to swallow without a wind chill factor, he said.

There is a warmup coming. Temps should return to near average by the weekend, in time for the SEC Championship game between Georgia and LSU at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

There is, however, a 40% chance of rain Friday, according to the latest forecast.

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