A few tiny showers have popped up across metro Atlanta, but they remain light. While drivers aren’t affected by the weather, wrecks are certainly slowing things down Wednesday.
All I-85 South lanes were briefly blocked near Ga. 400 to clear a stalled tractor-trailer from the right lane, but traffic remains jammed into Buckhead, the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported.
A crash has two left lanes of I-85 South blocked at Cheshire Bridge Road, according to the Traffic Center.
Also, two right lanes of I-85 South are blocked in Gwinnett County near Jimmy Carter Boulevard by a wreck, according to the Traffic Center.
The Southside is also slowed by a crash on I-75 North at I-675, which has a right lane blocked, the Traffic Center reported. Delays span to Jonesboro Road.
In the city, extra congestion is expected on the Downtown Connector with the ongoing home furnishings market at AmericasMart Atlanta. The show ends at 6 p.m. Wednesday and picks up daily at 9 a.m. through Monday.
The Northern Perimeter and Downtown Connector are also moving slowly, but that’s likely due to the increased volume on the road during the evening commute, the Traffic Center reported.
Wednesday should be the driest day for North Georgia this week. Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Glenn Burns said most of the popup downpours have been staying in Middle Georgia, with only a few light showers moving close to the city.
Showers and storms are 30 percent likely the rest of Wednesday afternoon.
High humidity means the 91-degree afternoon feels about five degrees hotter than the marked temperature, Burns said.
“Still a few downpours around for your late evening plans on your Wednesday,” Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “And then we turn our attention to low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico.”
About 400 miles to the south, a developing tropical system in the Gulf is creating some wet conditions. Burns said the system will likely develop into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours. If it develops, it would be named Berry.
“As we head into the Gulf of Mexico, we have a tropical storm watch for southwestern Louisiana and the surrounding area as this area of low pressure could become Tropical Storm Barry at any time,” he said.
According to Channel 2, the storm is forecast to become a hurricane before it makes landfall along the northwest Gulf Coast. It likely won’t affect Georgia’s weather much.
“It’s just going to keep up in this tropical air mass, and we’ll basically just have popup afternoon showers,” Burns said. “So no impacts for us.”
However, the Louisiana coastline could see up to 15 inches of rain, which Burns said could lead to devastating flooding for the region.
While Georgia is not in the storm’s path, a cold front coming in from the north could help to pull tropical moisture in our direction. By late Thursday, Burns said North Georgia can expect scattered storms as a result.
The rain chance goes up from 40 percent Thursday to 60 percent through the start of the weekend, according to the latest forecast.
“Really starting Friday morning through Saturday morning, we have a chance of rain anywhere, at any time,” Monahan said. “As we look ahead to Saturday, it’s not going to be a washout, but we'll have a chance for some widespread showers and storms.”
Sunday will be the best day for outdoor plans, he said, as what will become Barry moves farther to the west and away from the Georgia coast.
» 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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