A cold front moving through North Georgia will bring a few clouds Tuesday, but it should not impede the plentiful sunshine in the forecast.
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said the patchy clouds will not produce much rain, only a few stray sprinkles in the mountains. Metro Atlanta should stay dry and mostly sunny Tuesday, he said.
Temperatures in the 40s and 50s to begin the day will eventually make it to the low 70s in the city, according to Channel 2. The projected high is 72 degrees.
“What starts as a cool day finishes off as a really nice spring afternoon,” Monahan said.
Tuesday will be a nearly perfect day to get outside and enjoy some fresh air, he said. Similar conditions are in the forecast for Wednesday, but rain returns for Thursday.
“Heavy rain is going to spread across North Georgia on Thursday, that’s going to come with the risk of some strong and severe storms,” Monahan said.
It will be the third time in 10 days that North Georgia has dealt with a severe weather threat. The system bringing the region its next round of storms is unlike the one that moved through Sunday, according to Channel 2.
While the weekend storms stayed mostly to the south, much of metro Atlanta is under a Level 3 of 5 risk for heavy rain, gusty wind and isolated tornadoes Thursday. Monahan said the low pressure fueling the next round of storms is going to move much farther to the north, increasing the chance that more of the region will experience severe weather.
The storm risk is highest during the afternoon and evening hours Thursday, he said.
The rain from the weekend helped to wash some of the pollen out of the air, contributing to the lowest pollen count in a month. According to Atlanta Allergy and Asthma, the organization that tracks the daily pollen count, Monday’s count of 36 particles per cubic meter of air is considered to be in the medium range for tree pollen like oak, mulberry, pine, sycamore and willow.
While Monahan said he expects to see some spikes in the coming days, it is likely Atlanta is done with the extremely high pollen levels for the year.
“I'm officially proclaiming this morning we're past the peak of the tree pollen season here in metro Atlanta,” he said.
A new pollen count is expected at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Mainly dry conditions through Wednesday could help those numbers to rise, but Thursday’s 90% chance of rain will likely knock them down again.
The wet and stormy weather will be short-lived, Monahan said. Sunshine will return to North Georgia on Friday, as will afternoon highs in the mid-70s, according to the latest forecast.
With Georgia under a statewide stay-at-home order, metro Atlanta interstates remain lighter than normal Tuesday. There are no major crashes to slow things down, the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported at 6 a.m.
» 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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