ATLANTA FORECAST
Today: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. High: 77
Tonight: More rain possible. Low: 64
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. High: 79
» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.
It’s been a record-breaking day in Atlanta.
The city hit 77 degrees Wednesday afternoon, eclipsing the previous record high of 75, set in 1976, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Earlier, Atlanta broke the record for lows for the day at 65 degrees.
“This is very unusual,” Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz said. “Our low this morning never made it below the mid-60s.”
It’s currently 76 degrees in Atlanta.
Two records set in Atlanta today.
— Brad Nitz (@BradNitzWSB) February 21, 2018
Record warm low temperature this morning 65°. Previous record 62° in 1997.
Record high temperature this afternoon 77°. Previous record 75° in 1976.
The city is well above the average high for this time of year, which is 58 degrees.
With seven more days left in the month, this is already the fifth-warmest February on record, according to Channel 2.
Temperatures likely to return to "near normal" values for the first week of March. Expect lows in the upper 30s to low 40s and highs in the upper 50s to low 60s! pic.twitter.com/mqqP7e4vSD
— Glenn Burns (@GlennBurnsWSB) February 21, 2018
And that has resulted in a spike in the pollen count. Wednesday’s count is 148 particles of pollen per cubic meter of air, which is in the high range.
That still is not anywhere near the 2017 season high of 3,559, recorded on March 31. In 2016, the season high was 4,107.
Sniffling and sneezing? It could be from the high pollen counts. Trees yet again are the culprit. As near-record high temperatures continue, we expect the high pollen counts to stick around. pic.twitter.com/sQQavV1XbJ
— Katie Walls (@KatieWallsWSB) February 21, 2018
Cloudy conditions and scattered showers are also in the forecast.
“We’ve seen the development of these showers,” Nitz said. “And I expect that will expand.”
There is a 30 percent chance of precipitation today and a 10 percent chance Thursday, when another day of record-breaking warmth is expected, Channel 2 reported.
Rain could return this weekend. There is a 20 percent chance Saturday and a 60 percent chance Sunday.
"Race weather is still looking wet on Sunday for the QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway," Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said.
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