High fire danger conditions continue for Middle Georgia

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – High pressure over the Southeast will maintain warm, dry, conditions today. Fair-weather cumulus will develop this afternoon and will develop again 

tomorrow afternoon. A Fire Danger Statement is in effect until 8 PM this evening for all the coverage area due to very dry vegetation and low relative humidity. Another Fire Danger Statement will most likely be issued again for Friday afternoon and evening. Residents are encouraged to follow their local sheriff or fire departments for information on burn restrictions. Weak low level to mid level southerly flow will bring wildfire smoke northward from south Georgia and north Florida overnight and tomorrow. The advection of smoke coupled with the low level inversion overnight into tomorrow morning will likely lead to reductions in visibility. Once daytime heating is underway, mixing may lead to some improvement in smoke concentrations and  visibility.

The sky will likely remain at least hazy through the day.  Temperatures in the low to mid 80s will continue through much of the extended forecast. By Saturday,  a trough is expected to push through the south giving us the first real chance for meaningful rain in a long time. It will start a rainy period that will take us through the middle of next week as a stationary front stalls across the Southeast. The first round of rain is expected on Saturday and could be accompanied by a few strong to severe thunderstorms across Northwest Georgia, though widespread severe weather is

not expected. Timing will be the determining factor in the severe risk. A late afternoon arrival time will allow decent instability to build as winds shift to the southwest and pull moisture in from the Gulf. If this materializes, wind could be a threat.  After Saturday, an unsettled pattern sets up with a chance for rain in the forecast every day until Tuesday when rain chances become likely again as the front finally pushes off the coast. Temperatures remain in the 80s through this period, so as long as the lifting mechanisms remain in place there will be the possibility for some strong to severe storms, primarily in the afternoon to linger through the start of next week.