It's Officially Summer!

Today marks the first day of Summer, which also means it will be our longest day of the year! North Georgia has seen its fair share of 90 degree weather so far, but the heat is only just beginning. Going into this weekend, temperatures will soar into the mid 90s, with a heat index near 100 degrees. Moisture is a huge part of heat index values, and starting Friday, North Georgia will see another surge of moisture and cloud cover. This will turn up the heat index values as the humidity increases, but little rainfall is expected over our region this weekend. Unfortunately for us, a high pressure system in North Carolina will keep any potential rainfall away from our region, which will continue our drought-like conditions. Areas west of Atlanta are in a moderate drought along with most of North Georgia abnormally dry, both of which will most likely remain throughout this weekend. Fortunately, rainfall chances increase starting early next week, but at a cost of near triple digit high temperatures for most of North Georgia on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

As Tropical Storm Alberto moves into Mexico and weakens into a tropical depression, another tropical disturbance is making its way towards the southeast. The National Hurricane Center has increased its chance to develop into a tropical storm up to 40%. This system is expected to make landfall on Friday, consisting of unorganized and scattered thunderstorms along the coast of Georgia and the northeast coast of Florida. As of now, this disturbance is not going to be any where close to the same intensity as we saw with Alberto. Relying on model guidance, by Sunday, Southeast Georgia could see rainfall totals near 2 inches, with the highest totals near the coast. Northern parts of Florida could see similar rainfall totals. Forecast Models are also indicating that this system will mostly impact Southeast Georgia, but with increased moisture and cloud cover from this system over our region, we cannot rule out an isolated shower or thunderstorm Saturday and Sunday. Despite that, the odds for rainfall will remain low for north Georgia for Friday and this weekend, allowing us to stay mostly dry and very hot.