WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Another below-freezing — but dry — night on tap

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brad Nitz has your forecast.

ATLANTA FORECAST

Wednesday: High: 47

Wednesday night: Low: 29

Thursday: High: 59

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

Atlanta is about to begin its dive toward 29 degrees as the sun gets close to setting Wednesday.

In preparation for the third straight night of subfreezing temperatures, Atlanta will open a warming center at 7 p.m. at the Old Adamsville Recreation Center at 3404 Delmar Lane. It will remain open until Thursday morning.

While temperatures never escaped the 40s, traffic has been hot for the whole evening commute, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

All I-75 North lanes before Moores Mill Road were briefly held to clear a crash, but delays remain, according to the Traffic Center.

A left lane of the Downtown Connector at Freedom Parkway is blocked by a wreck, jamming traffic back to University Avenue, the Traffic Center reported.

A crash involving a mail truck in DeKalb County is congesting the intersection of North Druid Hills and LaVista roads, according to the Traffic Center.

A double shooting in Cobb County also previously blocked a right lane of Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road, the Traffic Center reported. The lane has since reopened.

MORE: 2 shot in east Cobb, SWAT unit deployed

There is some good news, though. North Georgia has just one more chilly day and night and then temperatures will start to moderate, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Eboni Deon said.

By the weekend, temps are expected to be in the 70s.

A freeze warning for all of North Georgia expired at noon. Another freeze warning is scheduled to go into effect at 8 p.m. Wednesday and expire at 10 a.m. Thursday. Lows will again dip into the 20s overnight, according to Channel 2.

Atlanta is expected to be near freezing at the start of the work day Thursday before warming up to near 60 degrees in the afternoon. By the weekend, temps are headed back above average, Deon said.

“The warming trend will continue through the rest of the week,” she said. “We’ll get into the 60s Friday and 70s this weekend.”

With the warmer weather and another cold front on the way, Monahan said parts of the South could see a repeat of last weekend's severe weather outbreak.

“This is not as strong a system as we just saw, but there is the possibility there for a few strong storms,” he said.

Rain is expected to increase across North Georgia on Saturday, and by Saturday afternoon Monahan said a system of strong to severe storms will be developing to the west.

“A line of weakening storms will move in Sunday morning, but there is the potential for a strong storm while you are sleeping Saturday night into Sunday morning,” he said.

It is still too early to predict severe weather with any certainty, but Monahan said he wanted to give “an early heads up.”

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