Intense thunderstorms rolling through the metro Atlanta area are causing major delays for travelers on the road and in the air.
The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for the core metro counties of Clayton, DeKalb and Gwinnett just after 6 p.m. The peak of storm activity in Atlanta is expected between 4 and 8 p.m., according to NWS.
As the long line of storms rolled south and east earlier this afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was re-routing flights on the east coast and would likely start to pause departures at major airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Major airports in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte are also expected to see delays and cancellations.
Downed trees, fallen electrical wires and flooded roads have been reported around the metro area, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Power outages have set red lights flashing at some major intersections, including at Roswell and Weiuca roads in Buckhead.
Flooding on the southbound lanes of the Downtown Connector is slowing traffic through town, the Traffic Center reported.
In anticipation of Monday’s severe storms, multiple school systems canceled after-school activities, including Cherokee, DeKalb and Gwinnett. Sports practices at Fulton County schools north of I-20 were expected to warp up by 5 p.m., school system officials said.
All of North Georgia is under an enhanced Level 3 risk of severe weather, while the threat for Georgia’s neighbors to the north is considered a moderate Level 4. The highest risk level, reserved for days with high confidence of widespread and violent severe weather, is a Level 5.
“That is very unusual for this time of year,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said of the enhanced threat. “This is an afternoon to be weather aware. Organized, strong and severe thunderstorms will come through all of North Georgia along a cold front — damaging wind gusts, large hail will be our main impacts.”
Storms on Sunday evening caused trees to fall on houses in multiple areas, including Carroll, Douglas and Paulding counties, Channel 2 reported. And hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Travelers should keep an eye on the status of their flights as more than 320 flights were canceled Sunday and as many as 255 Atlanta flights were canceled Monday morning, according to FlightAware.com.
After a few isolated storms at daybreak, conditions stayed mostly dry for the first half of the day as temperatures rose quickly into the mid-90s. But “bigger storms are going to be around as the kids come home from school later today and for your ride home from work,” Monahan said.
The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm watch for most of North Georgia until 8 p.m. While an isolated spin-up tornado is possible in far northeast Georgia, the risk of a tornado is greater in northeast Tennessee and across the border into North Carolina.
Storms should clear out before midnight, making for partly to mostly cloudy skies Tuesday morning, Monahan said. Rain will be a factor later in the afternoon, but the severe weather threat is expected to stay low.
Monahan said we don’t usually see many organized storm systems at this point in the year, because there aren’t many cold fronts in August. Since 2014, he said, there have been only nine other times that North Georgia has seen a Level 3 risk for severe weather within the months of June, July or August.
With Monday’s cold front, high temperatures should stay in the upper 80s and low 90s for the next few days, according to the forecast. Rain chances are also sticking around, but will dip down to just 30% for Tuesday and Wednesday before picking back up to a 40% chance to finish out the week.
The weekend also holds a 40% chance of scattered storms.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
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