Rainy Days Ahead

Today has been a mostly pleasant day across North Georgia, with warm temperatures and only some isolated showers. The warm trend is expected to continue into tonight with temperatures in the mid 60s in the Athens area and values slightly lower into the lower 60s heading toward the more Northwestern portions of the state. Fun fact: the record high minimum temperature for tomorrow in Athens is 62 set back in 2012. We are likely to beat that record and continue the unusual weather from February into March.

The isolated extent of the rain across North Georgia will increase in coverage late into tonight and tomorrow, with precipitation probabilities being in the 60% range across most of the region but increasing heading up toward Ball Ground with an 80% chance of seeing some rain drops tomorrow. This rain and the cloudiness associated will keep temperatures fairly constant - temperatures are only expected to rise into the lower 70s across all of Northern Georgia.

Looking ahead to Friday, there is a chance of seeing some severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK is giving a 15% chance of seeing severe weather within 25 miles of any given point in North Georgia. This translates to a "slight" (level 2 out of 5) risk of damaging winds, hail, and perhaps an isolated tornado. However, the models have been inconsistent with the amount of instability (the "juice" required for significant storm development), so these details are likely to change and be refined over the next couple of days.

Regardless of the extent of severe weather, rain is still expected across all parts of the area on Friday before a cold front moves through to moderate temperatures and end rain chances heading into the weekend.