GEORGIA — Like most states in the eastern region, Georgia is expected to be wet through the weekend due to a widespread storm system passing through much of the U.S., weather officials told Patch.
Strong to severe storms will begin rolling in from the west to the east due to a system that is moving through the central U.S. and approaching the Great Lakes, said Sid King, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Peachtree City office.
As the system nears the Great Lakes Saturday, King said it is expected to drop a cold front into the southeast, where the front will help organize showers and thunderstorms ahead of it.
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The downpour is forecast to continue from Saturday through Sunday evening, clearing out Sunday night into Monday, he said.
Sunday morning is expected to host the heaviest of the rain while an inch and a half of rain is forecast for the night hours.
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As for the main threat, gusty winds with a speed up to 40-50 mph are anticipated, which King said could possibly knock down trees and power lines.
Temperatures behind the cold front should be around freezing Monday morning in the metro Atlanta area with the afternoon hours not getting much warmer, King said.
AccuWeather predicted Wednesday about 80 million east coast residents will be impacted by the line of weekend storms moving along the coast. Heavy rain, strong winds, severe thunderstorms, and even snow, are predicted to develop with the system.
Severe weather is expected to span from the central Gulf coast to the Ohio Valley through Saturday, when warm air and minimal cloud cover “may compensate for a less intense storm system, leading to powerful thunderstorms and perhaps a few tornadoes,” AccuWeather reported.
After pulling moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, the system’s strength is expected to increase sometime Saturday before drawing more moisture Sunday from the Atlantic Ocean, AccuWeather reported.
“The surge in moisture will lead to more fuel for thunderstorms and rain on the eastern half of the Mississippi Valley to the Appalachians and Atlantic coast while the strengthening storm and trailing cold front will generate much stronger winds from the Appalachians to the Atlantic coast during the latter part of the weekend,” AccuWeather reported.
Heavy rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning should travel east from the Florida Panhandle to Ohio before climbing Saturday night to western Pennsylvania and western New York, AccuWeather reported.
The line of storms are expected to shift across New England Sunday night while South Florida experiences powerful storms, AccuWeather reported.
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