WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Gas leak fixed in Gwinnett as temps prepare to dip overnight

ATLANTA FORECAST

Tuesday: High: 64

Tuesday night: Low: 39

Wednesday: High: 49

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

Temperatures are preparing to drop more than 25 degrees in the next few hours, but workers in Gwinnett County have been busy passing the time by repairing a gas main break that gridlocked traffic Tuesday afternoon.

A 4-inch main gas line that was struck by a contractor on Lester Road blocked Pleasant Hill Road between Lawrenceville Highway and Burns Road for hours, and all surrounding roads were stifled, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

Around 10:20 p.m., Gwinnett County Fire said the gas leak had been repaired, and Lilburn police confirmed Pleasant Hill Road has reopened in a Facebook post. Lester Road remains closed from Lawrenceville Highway to the entrance of the Walmart Supercenter.

Temperatures should drop to 39 degrees overnight, Channel 2 reported. It’s the result of a cold front moving toward Georgia, which isn’t expected to bring many showers with it.

There will be a 15-degree difference between the high Tuesday and the projected high for Wednesday, Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said.

“The big changes, they are going to settle in tonight,” Monahan said. “Cold front moves by, drier air sweeps in, the wind’s really going to pick up. It’s going to be breezy tonight, and that northwest wind brings in much colder air.”

And just like that, North Georgia’s run of above-average temperatures is over.

“(Wednesday) morning, instead of temperatures near 50, heavier coats are back out,” he said. “We're in the 30s.”

The cooldown begins Wednesday morning. After that, metro Atlanta is not expected to get out of the 40s for the rest of the week, Monahan said.

“We'll start tomorrow morning in the upper 30s in Atlanta, near freezing in Blairsville,” he said. “It’s going to be really sunny (Wednesday), a lot of blue sky but not much warming as we top out in the mid- to a few upper 40s.”

By Thursday morning, nearly all of North Georgia could see below-freezing temperatures, according to the latest forecast.

With the cold air comes stronger winds, Minton said. A breeze should start to pick up over far northeast Georgia and filter through metro Atlanta on Wednesday. While much of the region could see 20-mph winds in the early afternoon, Minton said the mountains could get gusts up to 40 mph.