Severe weather possible Wednesday afternoon

MACON, Georgia. (41NBC/WMGT) – A weak cold front will bring a chance for some strong to severe storms in parts of Middle GA today.

Today

It was another cloudy and warm morning to kick things off across the Peach State. The warmth and humidity of the current pattern moved in over Christmas weekend and will not leave until after the New Year begins. All these days of warmth have led to a bit of an unstable atmosphere heading into this afternoon. The good news is the system is overall quite disorganized, and the main threat for severe weather is off to the northwest.

Here in Middle GA our highs will again reach the upper 70s this afternoon. Pockets of sunshine are likely ahead of thunderstorms later today, however the more cloud cover we have the lower the severe threat will be.  It will be a breezy day to begin with; sustained winds will blow from the southwest at 10-15 mph with gusts over 20 mph likely. Strong wind gusts will be the primary threat with storms later today followed by some locally heavy downpours. The tornado threat is negligible, however the possibility of a brief spin-up cannot be ruled out. Hail is also extremely unlikely.

Overnight the storm activity will subside and only a few showers should linger. Cloud cover will also be abundant as things stay warm; low temperatures will only fall into the upper 60s with some potentially staying above 70.

Tomorrow

Severe weather is unfortunately possible again tomorrow around Middle GA; in fact more of the region is in tomorrow’s threat zone than today’s. The threat level is the same (Level 1 Marginal) as Wednesday, but the timing will be slightly different. Storms will likely move in from the northwest during the lunchtime hours with some showers likely preceding them in the morning. High temperatures will again be in the upper 70s around the region as the southwest winds continue to blow.

During the evening hours storm activity will begin to subside as temperatures cool ever so slightly. An abundance of clouds will stick around overnight along with calmer southwest winds, allowing temperatures to fall a bit more into the mid to upper 60s.

New Year’s Eve

The current pattern will persist into the New Year, and thus more severe weather is possible on Friday. At this time, however, Middle Georgia is not under a threat level for Friday; this will likely change before it arrives. We will continue to see the same threats: strong winds and some heavy rain, tornadoes and hail highly unlikely. This pattern will only begin to change on Saturday when a much larger system makes its way in from the west. Highs on Friday will be in the upper 70s and low temperatures will remain in the upper 60s/lower 70s.

The New Year

Saturday will see the most rain this week as a much more organized system makes its way in from the west. The jet stream is finally going to take a dip in the eastern half of the country, and that will finally see the arrival of more seasonable temperatures. Saturday will still be plenty warm though; highs will again reach the upper 70s and lower 80s. Sustained winds on Saturday afternoon will be in the 15-20 mph range with gusts over 30 being possible. Storms will likely begin to move in during the late afternoon/evening hours and stick around through the night. Some showers will likely linger into Sunday, but by that point temperatures will have dropped into the low 50s. Severe weather is likely with this system late on Saturday, but at this time no risk level has been issued yet (too far out).

Temperatures will rebound Sunday afternoon when highs jump back up to the upper 60s. Cloud cover will clear out during the evening hours with showers remaining possible throughout the afternoon. Overnight skies will fully clear out ahead of a sunny and much cooler Monday. Temperatures heading into Monday morning will likely be around the freezing point.

Follow Meteorologist Aaron Lowery on Facebook (Aaron Lowery 41NBC) and Twitter (@ALowWX) for weather updates throughout the day. Also, you can watch his forecasts Monday through Friday on 41NBC News at Daybreak (6-7 a.m.) and 41Today (11 a.m).