WEATHER-TRAFFIC: Clear skies brighten day ahead of wet weather

ATLANTA FORECAST

Saturday: High: 65

Saturday night: Low: 52

Sunday: High: 60

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

With a wet week — or two — on tap, Saturday is set to kick off the stream of rainy days.

At least it won’t be raining all day, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Eboni Deon said. A morning that started with some heavy showers quickly became dry as the rain moved out of Atlanta.

It’s also expected to be fairly warm Saturday, with a forecast high of 65 degrees.

“Already some breaks of sunshine,” Deon said, “so that gives us hope for any outdoor activities.”

Rain, however, could come back by Saturday night, Deon warned.

A crash on I-285 West just before I-75 on the Southside had all lanes blocked for hours Saturday morning and caused severe delays, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center, but the scene was cleared by noon.

The rain moved into the state Friday night, and a constant stream of showers is expected to affect Atlanta for the foreseeable future, Channel 2 meteorologist Glenn Burns said.

“It’s a huge atmospheric fire hose (coming from the Pacific Ocean),” he said. “It’s just a huge amount of moisture coming in. It shows no signs of letting up for 10 days to two weeks.”

Ten-plus days of moisture means most of Atlanta will see 5 to 7 inches of rainfall from Saturday through Friday, Burns said. A few areas might see up to 9 inches.

To put into context how much precipitation that is, Burns said that if temperatures were below freezing, Atlanta would see 70 to 90 inches of snow.

The “rain train” from the Pacific Ocean means temperatures will also be above average. This weekend should be in the low-to-mid-60s, and Monday’s projected high is 63 degrees.

To get ahead of the rain, the Georgia Department of Transportation has been front-loading construction efforts, but a few will still carry over into the weekend, including lane closures on Northside Drive and Peachtree Street.

The rain does mean roads will be slick and won’t get many chances to dry out, so make sure to be wary of hydroplaning this weekend — and for the rest of February.