Nearly all metro Atlanta interstates are moving at a crawl during Thursday’s evening commute.
I-20 in Douglas and Cobb counties was hit hard when all lanes were briefly blocked at Lee Road to clear a crash, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Delays span to Thornton Road.
The Perimeter’s outer loop is jammed in DeKalb County after a crash at Flat Shoals Road, the Traffic Center reported. A right lane is blocked, causing delays back near I-675.
A crash that blocked nearly all I-85 South lanes near Hamilton Mill Road in Gwinnett County has been cleared, but lengthy delays were left in its wake, according to the Traffic Center.
The Downtown Connector and Northern Perimeter are also slow, but that’s mostly thanks to the increase in volume during the drive home, the Traffic Center reported.
Enjoy the dry weather Thursday because everything changes in the next 24 hours.
A wet weather pattern will settle in Friday and stick around through early next week, according to Channel 2 Action News. By Friday morning, North Georgia should be warmer, cloudier and have the chance for some rain.
“This morning (was) clear and cold,” Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “By tomorrow morning, we've got clouds and even a few showers in the forecast. Plan ahead: Tomorrow morning’s commute could be a little slow in a couple of spots with some showers moving in.”
Rain impacts should be low during the Friday morning drive, but Monahan said the chance of showers increases to 60% by the drive home from work. A weather system arriving overnight Thursday will keep Georgia wet off and on over the next couple of days.
Atlanta warmed into the low 70s Thursday before cooling slightly to 69 degrees about 5:30 p.m. There is no moisture in the air to fuel any showers.
“This is going to change really fast,” Monahan said. “Overnight tonight, while you are sleeping, the clouds are going to thicken up. That’s going to mean a much warmer start tomorrow.”
He said the clouds will act as a blanket to keep North Georgia warmer overnight, setting up for morning lows in the upper 50s Friday. They will also mean better chances of rain.
“There will be plenty of moisture for showers,” he said. “Not that it’s going to rain all the time, but more often than not we're going to be tracking some rain through Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
The rain chances bounce between 40% and 60% through Monday, according to the latest forecast.
» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.
» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.
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