Hot and humid stretch continues

[00:00:00]So, what will that weather be like?

[00:00:01]Let's talk to meteorologist Nicole Hartford about it. I know there's sound and sucker in the park in Piedmont Park and then a lot of people just eking out these last weeks of summer because it feels like back to school is like going to have us right in the face in two weeks.

[00:00:16]>> Not to like freak you out.

[00:00:17]>> that freaks me out slightly.

[00:00:19]>> Kids go back to school in two weeks.

[00:00:20]>> Not every Not Not every school district, [laughter] but the first one's dropping two weeks.

[00:00:24]>> first day of school days. Yeah.

[00:00:26]>> How's the weather going to be for the weekend?

[00:00:28]>> You know, it looks good, but there are some things that you kind of need to take into account for those weekend plans. One of those is going to be the heat. The other is going to be the potential for some storms. So, our overall forecast looks pretty similar.

[00:00:38]We've got the summertime heat, the summertime humidity. It looks really nice out there right now, although we are starting to see some darker clouds surrounding the Atlanta metro. This is our view from Midtown. Uh from the Georgia Tech campus, you can still see some blue sky out there as well.

[00:00:52]Temperatures have been heating up quick.

[00:00:54]We're at 88° right now in Atlanta, but with the humidity, which is high, it is muggy. It feels like 97°.

[00:01:02]We've got a light breeze out of the west-northwest at about 12 mph. We are not all that far from our high temperatures of the day. I'm forecasting highs mainly in the low 90s, but there will be some spots out towards the east of Atlanta that get up into the mid-90s.

[00:01:16]And in those locations, feels like temperatures up to 108 are possible. Because of that, we do have heat advisories in place stretching from Clark and Oconee counties, Madison County, uh down through the south into central Georgia. So, be aware across all of North Georgia, but especially those of you under the heat advisories today that you need to be staying hydrated, you need to be paying attention to your body, and for signs of heat illness. The heat is not going to let up into the weekend. High temperatures will continue to get up into the low to even mid-90s.

[00:01:46]What may help us out a little bit is a little decrease in humidity as we get towards early next week, but it's not going to be a hugely noticeable change.

[00:01:55]Right now, that mugginess is really controlling our weather pattern and with all the heat and humidity these pop-up showers and storms develop each day.

[00:02:02]We've already got some good rain going across portions of far north Georgia with some thunder and some lightning that has developed within a few of these isolated storms just within about the last hour or so. We have a few of those up in the portions of Pickens County out towards Fannin and Gilmer County and then the what I would call the strongest of storms so far producing some very heavy rainfall just down towards the southwest of Baxter out towards the west of Suches and this is bringing some very frequent lightning and thunder as well.

[00:02:30]So you may be hearing some of that thunder off in the distance, you may be seeing the gray clouds even if you're not currently getting rain. This is just the beginning of our rainfall potential throughout the day today. We'll continue to track scattered showers and thunderstorms and while widespread severe weather is not expected some isolated stronger storms are certainly possible. So portions of our area are covered by that marginal risk for severe weather pretty much each and every day for today and into the weekend. We're going to be talking isolated storms that could produce some very heavy rainfall and some frequent lightning but also the potential for some gusty winds. So mainly for those outdoor plans just make sure you're staying weather aware. Of course if you do hear thunder make sure to take it inside and just be a little bit more cautious when it comes to that potential for thunderstorms. Here's how it plays out on our forecast track. So a few isolated showers have just started to pop up. These will continue to not only intensify but become a little bit more widespread through the next couple of hours. I think the most widespread comes closer to 4 or 5 6 o'clock and then as we get closer to the sunset our temperatures will uh start to fall and rain will clear out through the overnight hours. By tomorrow morning we'll wake up to maybe a few stray showers but again a mix of sunshine and cloud cover perhaps some patchy fog and then rinse and repeat. By 1 or 2 o'clock isolated storms develop and these will continue on and off throughout the afternoon and the evening on Saturday.

[00:03:49]So So, weekend outlook looks about the same as what we've had the last couple of days. High temperatures in the low 90s, about a 30 to 40% chance for some rainfall. At the same time, we are also keeping our eyes on the Gulf. There is this potential tropical wave in the Gulf that has a 20% chance of development over the course of the next 7 days. It is unlikely to become our next named tropical system, but we could be talking a tropical depression as we move into the weekend or early next week. And we'll be watching this very closely. The Gulf waters are warm. So, there may be a couple surprises there. Regardless of whether or not we see any type of formation or development, this is going to bring likely some heavy widespread rainfall to portions of the Florida coast in the next couple of days. So, uh any beach plans through the weekend and early next week, you will want to watch that very closely. We're also watching this other area that is just off the coast of Africa. Similar story, only a 10% chance of development, but it is a reminder that hurricane season is underway. And in August, that is typically when things start to heat up.

[00:04:49]The statistical peak of hurricane season is on September 10th. So, a lot of our hurricane activity takes place in the months of September, as well as August and October. And we are just getting into that more active hurricane pattern.

[00:05:04]Our 7-day forecast is also a somewhat active one. We'll keep that daily rain chance in the forecast into early next week. Although, isolated showers and storms, those chances go down to about 20%. No heat relief in sight, though.

[00:05:15]High temperatures stay pretty steady in the low 90s.

[00:05:18]>> All right, you got me at feels like temperature of 108.

[00:05:21]>> It's I mean, that that is dangerous heat. So, it is going to be very hot and especially for people outdoors, you just need to be aware.

[00:05:28]>> Yeah, be aware. Yeah, interesting when you were showing us what's going on in Florida because we talked about just a couple of weeks left of summer, and that's a really popular spot for a lot of people to pop down for a quick vacation before back to school really gears up.

[00:05:40]>> Yeah, and a reminder too with something like this. I mean, if we see more development, rip currents a lot of times with these tropical systems. So, just be really cautious if you have those beach plans in the next week or so.

[00:05:49]>> That's a real really really good point.

[00:05:51]Okay, Nicole, we'll see you again in a little bit. Thanks a lot.