Severe storms possible Friday, early Saturday
We are getting a nice break from the rain this evening across Middle Georgia, but more rain and even severe storms are on the way Friday.
We will be watching closely as several round of showers and storms move north from the Gulf of Mexico.
Showers will start during the morning hours, with mainly light to moderate rain.
By the afternoon, a warm front will lift into the area, bringing the return of thunderstorms and heavy rain.
The severe threat will be low during the afternoon and early evening, but not zero.
Have ways to get your severe weather warnings through the day Friday.
Our next round of storms will move in during the overnight hours on Friday, and this is the round that could bring severe storms.
A strong front will be pushing east, mainly after midnight, bringing potent storms to the area.
Our latest model data shows storms moving through Macon, Milledgeville, and Montezuma around 3am.
This line will be moving relatively quickly, so we should see passage into Dublin, Eastman, and Abbeville by around 5 am.
Due to the late hour of our storm threat, you need to have a way to get warnings that will wake you up.
It also wouldn’t hurt if you keep a flashlight or candles by where you sleep in case the power goes out, due to high winds.
As far as the threats for Middle Georgia, the Storm Prediction Center has the southern portion of our viewing area in a Level 3 threat.
This is considered an enhanced risk for severe weather.
The rest of Middle Georgia is in a Level 2, low threat for the early morning hours Saturday.
The main threats will be damaging wind gusts, but tornadoes will be possible as well.
Heavy rain is likely throughout the area, and as such some quick localized flooding is expected.
Storms should be out of our area by around 7am Saturday, but we won’t be done with our wacky weather.
A second cold front will follow quickly behind the storms and bring a blast of winter for the weekend.
Temperatures will struggle to get out of the 40s for most of the day on Saturday, and that is without even factoring the wind chill
Speaking of winds and wind chill, you can expect a blustery day behind the front.
I’m anticipating a Wind Advisory will be issued by the NWS, as winds will be gusting between 30-40 mph through the day.
This will eventually taper off a bit as head into the overnight hours on Saturday.
Waking up Sunday, it will be very cold with lows in the mid and low 20s and wind chills reaching to the teens in some spots.
This constitutes a hard freeze, and any sensitive plants should be brought inside or covered.
We will be getting a small break from the “exciting” weather for the rest of the weekend as Sunday stays cool, but sunny.
Our visit from winter will be over quickly as highs rebound back to the 60s and 70s next week.
Rain and storms return Tuesday and will hang around through around Thursday.
