Severe Thunderstorms Headed To Metro Atlanta Friday Afternoon, Evening

ATLANTA, GA — Metro Atlanta should brace to be walloped by a new wave of potentially dangerous thunderstorms Friday afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service.

"Some of these could be severe with damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain," the service said in a hazardous weather outlook issued Friday morning.

A strong cold front is expected to move into the Tennessee Valley on Friday afternoon and into north Georgia Friday night. With it will come "scattered to numerous" thunderstorms, which are expected to develop ahead of the front across north Georgia.

The main area of concern, the NWS said, will be north of a line from LaGrange to Jackson to Washington. Storms are expected starting at noon and running until about 10 p.m.

The outlook includes Barrow, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Fulton, Oconee and Paulding counties.

The cold front is expected to continue moving across central Georgia Saturday and push into south Georgia by Saturday evening. Isolated to scattered, strong to severe storms are possible across central Georgia Saturday afternoon, generally south of a line from Columbus to Macon to Louisville.

Friday's forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain, with showers and thunderstorms most likely after 1 p.m. Winds will be 10-15 m.p.h. and the high temperature is expected to reach 87 degrees. Friday night, the heaviest rains and thunderstorms are expected before 7 p.m. The chance of rain will be 60 percent and the low is expected to drop to around 72.

As for the weekend, we can expect most of the storms to have moved through the area and may even see some sunny skies in metro Atlanta. There's a 20 percent chance of rain on Saturday, mostly before 11 a.m. Then it will be sunny, with a high of 86.

And, on Sunday, expect things to have cleared up. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high around 87 during the day and mostly clear Sunday night, with a low around 67.

Photos via Pixabay, National Weather Service