WEATHER-TRAFFIC UPDATE: Flood warning issued for metro counties; ponding present on roads

ATLANTA FORECAST

Wednesday: High: 64

Wednesday night: Low: 38

Thursday: High: 46

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

[11:22 p.m.]: A flood warning for Forsyth County has also been issued until Friday night by the NWS. The Fulton County flood warning has also been extended until Friday night.

[11:17 p.m.]: 

Ponding and a wreck have been reported on Buford Spring Connector near Monroe Drive, according to the Traffic Center.

[11 p.m.]: A flood warning was issued for DeKalb County until further notice by the National Weather Service.

UPDATE [10:49 p.m.]: A flood warning has been issued until further notice for Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties by the National Weather Service.

Ponding on roads has also been reported, including I-75 North at North Marietta Parkway. A wreck has shut down two left lanes of the interstate, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. It's recommended to use Ga. 41 or Paces Ferry Road as alternates.

ORIGINAL STORY: Only two days removed from the coldest temperatures Atlanta had seen in about a year, we warmed up drastically to 67 degrees Wednesday afternoon.

Enjoy this blip while it lasts, because it’ll return to the mid-40s for the rest of the week, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz.

That’s because of an approaching cold front that’s bringing a large wave of heavy rain to North Georgia. The rain has crossed the Alabama border and is starting to move into the metro area.

That has prompted a flash flood watch for many North Georgia counties until 1 a.m. Thursday by the National Weather Service. Those counties include Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Towns, Union, Walker, White and Whitfield.

A wind advisory has also been issued for much of metro Atlanta until 1 a.m. Thursday by the National Weather Service. Those counties include Cobb, North Fulton, South Fulton, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Paulding, Pickens and Polk, among others in west and North Georgia.

The storms are not expected to turn severe, Channel 2 reported.

Volume is fairly light on metro Atlanta interstates, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

A crash on the Inner Loop at Riverdale Road in Clayton County has one lane blocked, causing delays leaving I-75, the Traffic Center reported.

And in Forsyth County, all lanes were blocked earlier on northbound Ga. 400 while a boat was removed from the median. Delays remain starting at McFarland Parkway.

Several downtown surface streets from Mercedes-Benz Stadium to Centennial Olympic Park are shut down in advance of the Super Bowl.

MORE: Road closures, detours in earnest for Super Bowl

Baker Street is closed between Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Luckie Street. Mitchell Street is closed between the southbound lanes of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Elliot Street. On Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the southbound lanes are closed between Northside Drive and Centennial Olympic Park Drive. Mangum Street is closed between Markham Street and Foundry Street.

And, starting Wednesday, Andrew Young International Boulevard Northwest is closed between Marietta Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive.

Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton expects 1 to 2 inches of rain will fall before all is said and done Thursday.

An area of pressure is “keeping us on the warm side today, so you get that warmth coming up out of the Gulf,” she said. “Behind it, though, some very cold air. That’s going to come diving in here and really take our numbers down.”

The weather system is expected to move out Thursday after some overnight showers and a 60 percent chance of rain for the morning hours, she said. After that, Minton said it could be breezy as much colder air slides into the state.

There could be a chance for some wintry precipitation in the mountains, she said, but it should be brief.