WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Flooding, severe thunderstorm warning across far North Georgia

ATLANTA FORECAST

Thursday: High: 87

Thursday night: Low: 70

Friday: High: 88

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

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for many far North Georgia counties, including Hall, Banks, Pickens, Dawson and Jackson, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Katie Walls.

Showers that doused northeast Georgia earlier Thursday have cleared, but the threat of rain remains, raising the risk of continued flooding. Helen specifically saw upwards of 7 inches of rain today, causing many roads to flood.

That caused the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning for Rabun County and White County and a flood advisory for Habersham County until further notice.

A cluster of downpours is approaching metro Atlanta, which was under mostly blue skies this morning and afternoon. That will most likely congest roads even more than they are now.

Police activity shut down Roswell Road between Hammond Drive and Hilderbrand Drive in Sandy Springs earlier today. The road is now reopened, but delays should linger, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

There are no advisories, warnings or watches for Atlanta, and the chance of rain has been downgraded from 60 percent to 40 percent.

It’s currently 87 degrees in Atlanta, which was the predicted high for today.

Alberto, a former subtropical storm, is no longer a factor in Georgia’s weather patterns. Now it has to do with what chief meteorologist Glenn Burns described as an 1,800-mile long string of moisture.

"We're dealing with an atmospheric river basically that goes from Georgia into the deep Caribbean,” he said.

All this rain has flooded many bodies of water around Georgia, including Lake Lanier.

A heavier flow of water will run continuously out of Buford Dam at Lake Lanier for the next two weeks, according to a National Park Service news release. Boating and swimming are not advised during that time frame.

The rains have caused excess runoff into the Chattahoochee River, which tested for unhealthy levels of E. coli bacteria near Medlock Bridge. A health advisory has been issued.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a 40 percent chance of rain Friday, and the chance drops to 30 percent Saturday.

“Rain chances are coming down over the weekend ,” Minton said. “I see an extended period of dry weather Monday through Friday next week.”

A cold front is expected to hit Georgia, replacing the rain and moisture with dry and more comfortable air, according to Channel 2.