SATURDAY’S WEATHER | Dry, sunny start to weekend ahead of drop in temps, rain

The first half of the weekend will be mild and sunny.

Morning temperatures on Saturday will be in the low 40s, and the wind chill will bring temperatures down to the high 30s. Metro Atlanta residents will wake up to clear skies by sunrise, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz said.

The day will quickly warm up into the 50s by early afternoon and reach a high of 62 degrees by around 4 p.m. Some clouds will start to build by around midday, but plenty of sunshine is still expected.

“We’ll have lots of sunshine into the afternoon,” according to Nitz.

More cloud coverage will move in overnight ahead of showers that will drench most of North and Middle Georgia. The rain will approach from southwest Georgia around 7 a.m. Sunday, meaning that metro Atlanta residents will have the ability to enjoy the first few hours of the day outdoors.

By around noon, the downpour will have reached the metro-area. Showers will start off light and then strengthen during the mid-afternoon hours, Nitz said. The North Georgia Mountains are one of the few areas north of I-20 that won’t experience widespread rain.

Sunday will be significantly cooler with only a high of 49 degrees. Windy conditions will also drop temperatures into the high 30s for most of the day and evening.

The rainfall will continue overnight and into Monday morning, when spotty showers are expected to die down around noon.

Nitz projects up to half an inch of rain for areas north of I-20, between half an inch and an inch for parts south of I-20, and some areas in Griffin and into Middle Georgia could see up to 2 inches by Monday.