Hurricane Ian has made landfall Wednesday on the west coast of Florida as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, but it will be days before metro Atlanta feels the effects.
The storm made landfall near Cayo Costa with 150-mph winds, threatening deadly storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula. It was just shy of a Category 5 hurricane, which would have been only the fifth of its kind to ever make landfall in the U.S.
“Whether it is a 4 or 5, this is going to have the same impact on southwest Florida, and it’s going to be a catastrophic impact,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said.
Ian’s current track takes the storm east across Florida on Thursday before turning back to the west off the coast of Georgia. It is expected to make a second landfall Friday somewhere between Georgia and South Carolina as a tropical storm at near-hurricane strength.
According to Monahan, impacts to metro Atlanta are improving based upon current storm track predictions.
Tropical storm and storm surge warnings have been issued for several coastal Georgia counties, with wind gusts up to 60 mph and storm surge up to 7 feet possible as Ian makes its approach.
In preparation, Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for all 159 counties, with up to 500 troops from the Georgia National Guard to be used to help residents prepare for and recover from the storm. The declaration started at 7 a.m. Wednesday and ends at midnight Oct. 28.
At least for Wednesday and Thursday, Atlanta will stay on the dry side of the tropical system, Monahan said.
“All you will notice from Ian today is some high clouds, especially across the Southside,” Monahan said. “North and west of Atlanta, it should be a mostly sunny day and a partly cloudy night tonight.”
The dry air is also contributing to cooler weather. Temperatures were in the 50s in town on Wednesday morning, and some of the higher elevations of the northeast Georgia mountain woke up to numbers in the 30s.
Atlanta is headed for a projected high of 74 degrees, and it will be even cooler Thursday as the city braces for Ian’s rain bands. Monahan expects rain chances to increase beginning Friday afternoon.
“As we go toward Friday night, heavy rain moves into North Georgia,” he said. “West Georgia, not much rain. Metro Atlanta will have downpours around, but the heaviest rain will be on the Eastside — strongest wind gusts, too.”
Wind gusts up to 45 mph are possible, and power outages are likely. East Georgia will see the most impacts from Ian’s remnants, according to the latest forecast, and there is currently no tornado or severe weather risk.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Monahan expects the rain to begin tapering off Saturday afternoon as the storm moves up the East Coast.
“We are left with just some lingering showers and some breezy, cooler weather Sunday morning,” he said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
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