That haze is not going away in Atlanta

Tomorrow: Sunny. High: 72

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

Atlanta’s weather will stay bothersome — one way or another.

A smoky haze covering parts of the metro area isn’t clearing out anytime soon, and temperatures will again drop to the 40s overnight Thursday, according to Channel 2 Action News.

In a sliver of good news, Atlanta temps are forecast to reach 72 degrees before the day’s end Friday. But as temps increase, more smoke is expected to blow in with northwest breezes.

The Georgia Forestry Commission said smoke, which was visible Wednesday in Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties, is not the result of new, local wildfires. Instead, it is the result of winds pushing smoke from existing wildfires in the North Georgia mountains south to metro Atlanta.

Fire has burned through more than 6,400 acres in North Georgia and also torched land in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama.

Similar to metro Atlanta, Athens is also getting wafts of smoke drifting south from North Carolina fires, police told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The smoke will affect the Athens area throughout the day.

“The dry air sticks around,” Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said. “We get no relief, and it does stay very dry.”

Temps were 66 degrees in Atlanta, 59 in Blairsville and 65 in Griffin just before 1:40 p.m. Thursday.