WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Northside traffic troubles persist

ATLANTA FORECAST

Thursday: High: 69

Thursday night: Low: 47

Friday: High: 74

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

After a chilly morning, Atlanta returned to feeling like spring again.

As Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said, it’s the time of year where you need to dress for all four seasons in one day.

“You get to wear just about everything (Thursday),” Monahan said. “... It’s a day for layers across North Georgia.”

However, drivers in Fulton County can't focus on the warmer weather, since wrecks are affecting surface streets and interstates in the county, the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported.

Two right lanes of the Perimeter’s inner loop are blocked by a crash near Ashford Dunwoody Road, according to the Traffic Center. A gas leak that has Shallowford Road shut down between Briarcliff Road and I-85 isn’t helping matters.

Cobb County is also recovering from a crash on Chastain Road at the I-575 intersection that shut down lanes back to I-75, the Traffic Center reported.

There was also a scary sight in Coweta County around noon when a school bus crashed and overturned at the intersection of Ga. 154 and Woolsie Road. Four people suffered minor injuries.

MORE: School bus crashes, tips over in Coweta County

Thursday started out freezing in the northeast Georgia mountains, and temperatures were in the 40s in metro Atlanta. That’s not quite midwinter cold, Monahan said.

“But we’ve had days in the 70s, and when you get back into the 30s and 40s, it feels cold — because it is,” he said.

The cooler morning temps can be attributed to a clear sky and dry air across North Georgia, according to Channel 2.

Atlanta reached 68 degrees at 5 p.m., and the city was still hovering at that temperature at 6 p.m.

The pollen count doubled from 212 particles per cubic meter of air Wednesday to 428 Thursday. Monahan said he expects the count to continue creeping up as North Georgia’s rain-free stretch continues for a couple of more days.

It will be dry and clear again overnight Thursday, which means North Georgia is in for more 30- and 40-degree temperatures Friday morning, according to Channel 2. After topping out in the mid-70s on Friday afternoon, Monahan said a few more clouds will slip in from the west.

“That’s a sign of some warmer air pushing toward us, but it’s also a sign of a little bit of rain that’s going to get to us by the weekend,” he said.

A cold front will be moving toward North Georgia on Saturday, which Monahan said could trigger a shower or two by Saturday evening in the mountains. There is a 20 percent chance for rain.

“But most areas, you've got the all-clear,” he said. “It’s going to be good for Saturday. Sunday, well, that’s a different story. We're not going to make it a third straight completely dry weekend across North Georgia.”

The front will reach Georgia by 8 a.m. Sunday, he said. There will be a 70 percent chance of showers and a rumble of thunder is possible as the wet weather makes its push through the state, according to Channel 2.

“Now it’s not going to be an all-day rain,” Monahan said. “It’s not a total washout on Sunday afternoon, but we're going to have a lot of clouds and a chance for showers pretty much all the way through the day on Sunday.”

It will also be cooler, he said. North Georgia is expected to see highs near 80 degrees Saturday, but temperatures will dip back into the 60s for the afternoon Sunday, according to the latest forecast.