Damaging wind gusts, large hail and isolated tornadoes are possible Friday as a line of strong thunderstorms arrives in North Georgia at midday.
The entire region is under an enhanced threat of severe weather Friday, including a 10% risk of a tornado. That may seem low, but Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said when you are talking about tornadoes, it’s an elevated risk.
Monahan is expecting the storms to arrive in northwest Georgia around 11 a.m. and reach the heart of Atlanta sometime between noon and 2 p.m. It will be best to wait them out, he said.
“Stay where you are. You don’t want to be out on the roads,” Monahan said. “You don’t want to be traveling as the worst of this strong and severe weather moves through North Georgia, and it’s not going to last long.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
By sunset, conditions across North Georgia should be improving, according to Monahan. Before then, it could be rough at times.
Friday is not starting completely dry, but Monahan said any shower activity that develops before noon will not carry the risk of severe weather. With rain around this afternoon, Atlanta is only expected to reach a high of 78 degrees after a warm start in the upper 60s.
“It’s going to be in those couple of hours on either side of noon that we’re going to see our highest storm risk come through North Georgia,” he said. “Main threats are going to be storms that could have some heavy rain, damaging wind gusts, some hail is possible as well. There is a tornado risk ... I want you to be prepared for that.”
North Georgia is past peak severe weather season, but tornadoes are possible in early May. Last year, seven tornadoes moved through the region between May 3 and May 4, including an EF-1 storm that caused major damage in South Fulton.
The National Weather Service has issued an enhanced Level 3 severe weather outlook for most of North Georgia on Friday. While damaging wind gusts are the greatest threat, Monahan said a tornado is possible pretty much anywhere across the region as the worst of the storms push through.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“It will quickly improve,” he said. “There’s going to be some sunshine by sunset tonight, setting us up for a pretty good weekend.”
After Friday, there is no widespread rain in the forecast for the weekend. Mother’s Day on Sunday looks great with highs near 80 and low humidity, according to the latest forecast.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
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