WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Interstates backed up during hot, dry evening commute

ATLANTA FORECAST 

Thursday: High: 91

Thursday night: Low: 70

Friday: High: 91

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

It has heated up quite a bit in metro Atlanta, but that heat hasn’t triggered high smog yet. However, traffic hasn’t been as kind.

Almost the entire Northern Perimeter is moving at a crawl, and the Downtown Connector isn't much better, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

This is the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center map. The color red isn't a good thing.

It's 91 degrees, which is the predicted high for today. A Code Orange smog alert had been issued for much of metro Atlanta when temperatures reached their peak, but the Environmental Protection Agency still has the air quality rated as moderate.
RELATED: What is a Code Orange? Smog alert issued for Atlanta

“Everything is fine right now, but we could have some smoggy conditions later,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said earlier.

Humidity is coming down and there’s no rain in the forecast. The drier trend will continue for the next couple of days, according to Channel 2. Even the weekend should be mainly dry, Minton said, with only a slight chance of scattered showers Sunday evening.

Clear skies allow the sun to shine throughout downtown Atlanta as people walk through the CNN pedestrian bridge Thursday. A high of 91 degrees has put much of metro Atlanta under a Code Orange smog alert. ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM

The same area of low pressure that drenched Georgia this past weekend and Monday is now sending dry air into the region from the Midwest.

“Dew points are in the mid-60s, so not as humid as we have seen,” Minton said. “That’s going to limit our chances for rain today and (Friday) as high pressure builds in and that low pulls away and weakens from our region.”