Storms staying put on metro’s edges as evening commute starts

ATLANTA FORECAST

Thursday: High: 90

Thursday night: Low: 73

Friday: High: 87

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

The evening commute should turn out to be a mostly dry one within the Perimeter, but west and east Georgia are experiencing some very slow-moving downpours, Channel 2 Action News reported.

The Downtown Connector is still a mess and hasn't gotten much better since lunchtime. The connector is littered with the fallout of crashes, causing backups and delays, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

Heavy delays remain even after an earlier wreck on I-20 near Capitol Avenue cleared, the Traffic Center reported.

A stalled tractor-trailer on I-285 North near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is briefly blocking all lanes and causing big delays, the Traffic Center reported.

More tropical moisture is on the way to end the week, which could trigger more widespread storms.

While conditions are quiet now in metro Atlanta, the dew point is on the rise and storms are in the forecast, according to Channel 2 Action News.

“Dew points are already running in the low 70s, and overall the air is quite muggy,” Channel 2 meteorologist Katie Walls said.

Most of the heavy downpours are relegated to west Georgia near Carroll County, Channel 2 reported. The storms aren’t moving anywhere fast, so ponding on roadways is a possibility.

Wednesday was able to reap the benefits of drier air with only a few isolated afternoon showers, but Thursday’s are expected to be more “typical” of this time of year, Walls said.

“Today will be a transition day,” Walls said. “We’ll head back into a typical summertime pattern with scattered storms developing this afternoon and highs topping out near 90 degrees. While a few strong storms are possible this afternoon, the better opportunity for stronger storms will be tomorrow.”

A lower 40 percent chance of rain won’t help drop the temperature much, Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said. Thursday’s predicted high is 90 degrees, and it’ll remain in the upper 80s through the weekend.

“Cooler afternoon temps are expected the rest of the week as our rain chances increase,” she said.

Friday has a 30 percent chance, which increases to 60 percent Saturday before dropping back to 30 percent Sunday.

A cold front now in South Georgia is expected to pull moisture north throughout the day and ramp up rain chances Saturday.

The National Weather Service has already highlighted many far North Georgia counties as risk areas for strong thunderstorms.

“The most likely time of strong to severe storms is going to end up overnight Friday into Saturday morning,” Minton said.

Severe storms could start to move in about 2 a.m. Saturday, and very heavy rain and damaging wind are the primary threats. Showers should be on and off for Saturday afternoon, according to the latest forecast from Channel 2.

The heavy amounts of rain earlier this week has brought the amount of E. coli in the Chattahoochee River to unhealthy levels, Channel 2 reported.

No matter the weather this weekend, don’t head to the Hooch to cool off. Most likely, you’ll want to avoid all rivers and lakes Friday night and Saturday morning.