WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Severe weather skips Atlanta, batters east Georgia

Atlantans are enjoying a deep sigh of relief since an expected wave of heavy storms skipped over the metro area Monday afternoon.

That does leave a few scattered showers, so it’s definitely not dry outside, but the heavy downpours are relegated to the North Georgia mountains while severe thunderstorms litter the Georgia-South Carolina border, Channel 2 Action News reported.

The National Weather Service said only a marginal risk of severe weather remains for Atlanta tonight.

The lack of heavy rain means the roads aren’t too wet, but early afternoon road closures have left a mess in DeKalb County.

Police activity shut down I-285 South near Memorial Drive, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. The lanes have all reopened, but traffic is still swamped. With the evening commute in full gear, it'll be tough for Eastside traffic to fully recover.

Southbound traffic on the Downtown Connector is also very slow, according to the Traffic Center. A crash that temporarily blocked the southbound ramp to 14th Street didn’t help matters. The crash was the result of a police chase, according to Atlanta police.

MORE: Armed robbery leads to police chase, crash in downtown Atlanta, cops say

Clayton County travel isn’t much better, since an overturned dump truck has all but the far right lane of I-75 South blocked near Jonesboro Road, the Traffic Center reported. At 6 p.m., three left lanes were blocked.

Temperatures are rising through the 70s in metro Atlanta.

“Even beyond the evening commute, we’ll still track some rain and storms late tonight,” Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said.

The rain should help knock down the pollen count, which was back in the extremely high range Monday. At nearly 2,000, Monahan said the count was about a third of what what it was Friday, when Atlanta saw the highest pollen levels since 2013.

RELATED: Pollen count soars to highest level since 2013

Things should quiet down for a bit overnight, and then Monahan said more showers and storms will come in for Tuesday, when there is a 60 percent chance of rain.

“What a beautiful day, though, Wednesday,” he said. “Sunshine, low humidity and we'll be in the upper 70s.”

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

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