With winter nearly behind us, metro Atlanta is now bracing for severe springtime weather.
That means hail, blustery winds and an increased risk for tornadoes. A line of strong storms is expected to roar into the region from the west on Saturday, meteorologists warn.
Already, metro Atlanta and northwest Georgia are under a Level 3 of 5 risk for severe weather on both Saturday and Sunday.
“While uncertainty remains, if ingredients come together, all severe hazards will be possible including tornadoes, damaging winds and hail,” the National Weather Service cautions.
Forecasters are still narrowing down when the storm will arrive, but the best estimate for severe weather to reach metro Atlanta is Saturday afternoon, NWS meteorologist Brett Albright said. Some rain may be possible that morning.
Going into Saturday night, a “very strong” wind is expected to move in along with a cold front, said Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan.
“That’s going to bring strong and severe thunderstorms to North Georgia on Sunday morning and Saturday night before things quiet down,” he said.
It’s still too early to get a clear picture of how high the tornado threat will be.
“I will say it looks like a better potential than anything we’ve seen so far this year,” Albright said. “That being said, in terms of trying to pin it down in any sort of location or time, it’s just hard right now.”
North Georgia and metro residents should keep a close eye on weather projections in the coming days and “review personal severe weather preparedness plans now” the Weather Service warns.
The stormy forecast and weekend temperatures in the mid to low 70s come just before spring’s first day on March 20. This winter brought as much as 3 inches of snow to metro Atlanta and North Georgia in early January and dumped varying amounts across the state later the same month.
With spring’s arrival comes the likely end of metro Atlanta’s snow season, though there technically remains some hope as the city’s latest recorded date for snowfall was March 24, 1983. On that date, an unusual storm dropped nearly 8 inches of snow.
That is highly unlikely to happen this year, as big drops in temperatures are not expected in the foreseeable future.
The start of spring also means the beginning of the Southeast’s tornado season. Twisters can spin up any time of year but are most likely to occur between March and May with a peak in April, according to the NWS.
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