Flood Watch Issued For Some Metro Atlanta Counties

ATLANTA, GA — The anticipation of more rainfall pouring into metro Atlanta this week has triggered a flood watch for portions of the metro, weather officials told Patch Wednesday.

The flood watch went into effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday and expires at 8 p.m. Friday for north Fulton, DeKalb, Rockdale, Clayton, Henry and several other Georgia counties.

Rivers could possibly overflow Wednesday through the next several days, and areas with poor drainage could experience some flooding, said Meredith Wyatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Peachtree City office.

According to the weather service's alert, there is a chance for creeks and streams to rise out of their banks this week.

Wyatt noted flooding could primarily affect counties east of metro Atlanta due to localized heavy rainfall.

"Gloomy conditions are expected to continue through the rest of the work week," she said.

The pending rain is due to a low pressure system that is sitting in the southeast.

"That’s really kept this gloomy weather around for the past several days," Wyatt said. "That setup has led to all of the clouds, light rain and dreary conditions we’ve been experiencing."

Monday and Tuesday saw two to four inches of heavy rainfall, and a consistent moisture flow of showers and storms in the next few days is expected to drop 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain in some Georgia counties, weather officials said.

"The rainfall we’ve seen over the past 48 hours has led to saturated grounds particularly in the (flood) watch area," Wyatt said.

According to weather officials, the most significant concern is localized rainfall values of five to seven inches over isolated pre-saturated cities. This could lead to flash, river and urban flooding issues.

Portions of the metro area east of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport experienced a couple of showers early Wednesday. However, most of the rain activity in the morning hours were in north Georgia and south of metro Atlanta, Wyatt said.

The highest rain chance both Wednesday and Thursday is in the afternoon. Rain chances will spill over into the overnight hours Wednesday.

There is potential for thunder, but no widespread severe weather is anticipated.

The rain Friday should arrive around daybreak, with the afternoon being the highest chance for rainfall across northeast Georgia and cities south of metro Atlanta.

The expectancy for rain decreases Saturday and Sunday. Wyatt said Saturday has a 10 percent chance for showers while Sunday has a 20 percent rain chance.

Wyatt urged drivers to take precaution and watch for possible flooding on the roadways this week.

"We like to say turn around, don’t drown," Wyatt said.

Temperatures the remainder of the week are set to be the following:

Wednesday: highs in the low 70s

Wednesday night: low temps in the low 60s

Thursday: highs around mid-70s

Thursday overnight: highs in the mid-60s

Friday: approaching low 80s

Saturday and Sunday: highs in the upper 80s, lows in the upper 60s to low 70s