FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: The severe weather threat has diminished across the state, according to the National Weather Service. Instead of a Level 3 of 5 risk for severe storms south of metro Atlanta, nearly the entire state is under a Level 2 threat. Far North Georgia remains under a Level 1 risk.
ORIGINAL STORY: Days after strong storms pummeled metro Atlanta, meteorologists are warning of more foul weather on the way Friday.
Forecasters are predicting damaging wind gusts of 60 mph or more, hail and an elevated potential for strong tornadoes. It’s part of a system that will barrel in from the Great Plains region and blanket the East Coast by mid-afternoon Friday and bring heavy snowfall to the northeast.
It comes on the heels of another system that drenched the metro area Tuesday, bringing down trees, causing widespread flooding and killing at least three people across the country, including a man in Clayton County.
Friday’s severe weather risk is at a Level 2 of 5 in areas north of I-20, while areas south of the interstate will be under a more serious Level 3 risk, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. In those areas, the probability of seeing an EF2 to EF5 tornado within 25 miles of any given point is at 10%, according to the National Weather Service. That is significantly elevated from the 2% chance the area saw Tuesday.
For context, areas closer to the city on Tuesday were under a Level 1 risk for severe weather, while the southside of the metro was at a Level 2.
Those storms, which were part of a system that stretched from Maine to New Mexico, were still damaging, including forcing Vice President Kamala Harris’ aircraft to divert from Joint Base Andrews to Dulles International Airport near Washington. The crew encountered wind shear — a sudden shift in wind direction or speed — as they returned from a trip to Georgia, according to the Associated Press.
While no tornadoes were reported in Georgia that day, Florida was hit especially hard. Gov. Ron DeSantis had to declare a state of emergency in 49 counties after tornadoes blew the roofs off homes, flipped over campers and tossed about furniture, according to the AP. Tornadoes were also suspected to have touched down in Alabama and North Carolina.
Friday’s chances for severe storms are enhanced by a warm front that will start to lift through the area in the morning hours, bringing temperatures to around 60 degrees, the NWS reported. That warm air will then clash with a fast-moving cold front that will push in from the west.
“We’ve got that warmer, more unstable air ... and that’s the storm energy that’s going to fuel the risk of severe storms,” Monahan said.
As a result, Clayton County, Henry County, Griffin-Spalding County, Fayette County and Coweta County schools have opted to cancel classes for Friday. Newton County will be dismissing students early.
“Considering the dynamic nature of this storm system, it will not take much instability for thunderstorms to become strong to severe,” NWS meteorologists warn.
Some showers could be around Friday morning, but the bulk of the rain will arrive in Atlanta after lunchtime, Monahan said. And while not a lot of rain is expected, some areas could still see an inch or two.
That’s “good news for those areas that are recovering from the flooding that we saw on Tuesday,” he said, but it could still spell trouble for areas that see higher rain totals as the ground remains saturated.
Tuesday’s storms brought down a tree in Clayton County that crushed 78-year-old Herbert Lee Williams’ car, killing him as he drove along Fayetteville Road shortly before 10 a.m. An 81-year-old woman in Alabama was killed when her mobile home was tossed from its foundation by a suspected tornado, and another person died in North Carolina, also in a suspected tornado, the AP reported.
The storms caused major flooding of metro Atlanta’s waterways, especially the Yellow River. Its swelling waters left multiple people trapped at an RV park in Newton County on Wednesday. Officials said they had to rescue six people and two dogs from submerged campers at the Riverside Estates Mobile Home & RV Park near Covington with an inflatable raft. No injuries were reported, and the river began receding that afternoon.
On Friday, most of the bad weather should be gone by dinnertime, Monahan said, setting the stage for a mostly sunny weekend with highs in the 40s and 50s. Much colder air and more rain are on the horizon for next week, and there is even the potential for light snow in the North Georgia mountains, according to the NWS. But little, if any, accumulation is expected.
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