We're almost there with 1 day left in the work week. The weather also looks to be taking the weekend off with cooler temps and sunny skies this weekend!
So, what about this severe risk? The last couple of days have given us scattered rainfall and even some severe potential as we saw on Wednesday night. However, expect a greater risk for severe weather with Friday bringing us a slight risk (level 2 of 5) across North Georgia. Some storms could even acquire enough rotation to produce an isolated tornado, so be sure to stay tuned to your local weather authority to be sure you are alerted of anything coming your way. If clouds hold our instability (energy for the storms to "feed" on) down, the risk could potentially be lower.
For those looking for more technical detail, skip to the end of this article for a more in-depth discussion of severe potential.
The good news is that Saturday will bring us clear skies and lower temperatures with lows in the 40s and highs ranging throughout the 60s. Sunday warms us with some places likely to reach 70 again. Clouds and rain, however, will return next week as our next system enters the area.
For UGA students staying home for Spring Break, expect Athens to remain fairly consistent with how the weather was this week throughout the break as clouds return early next week and rain later on in the week. Temperatures will again warm and lead to days where the swimming pool might not be a bad option.
Remember to keep an eye out on the weather Friday and enjoy your Spring Break!
Technical Details for Friday's Event
A negitively-tilted shortwave trough is moving towards us from the west bringing with it a surface low which should eject quickly to the northeast. This system will bring strong mid to upper-level winds and a strong low-level jet (LLJ) with winds at 60+ kts is expected to develop just ahead of the front. This LLJ carrys with it strong shear, moisture, and the potential for supercell development. However, the primary threat for severe weather is damaging wind gusts. A tornado or two can not be ruled out. For the southeast specifically, warm temperatures aloft SHOULD limit instability throughout the event. Alas, both convection-allowing and mid-range models show CAPE temporarily surpassing 1000 J/kg late Friday afternoon which is plenty to foster some strong to severe storms.
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