Clouds will linger and rain showers will return as an upper-level low swirls north from the Gulf of Mexico into the state of Georgia this weekend.
The animation below illustrates the 500 millibar vorticity, which is the amount of spinning energy in the atmosphere located about 5460 meters -- a little over 3 miles -- above our heads. The purple and blue areas of illustrate a lot of energy swirling in -- and out -- of Georgia this weekend!
Saturday Outlook and Impacts
The upper-level low will push moisture into Metro Atlanta, producing rain showers that will spread north throughout the day.
As a result, as much as 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall is possible throughout Metro Atlanta on Saturday. The animation below illustrates the Futurecast radar imagery for Saturday.
Sunday Outlook and Impacts
The animation below shows a closer view of what to expect, hour-by-hour for Metro Atlanta and North Georgia as the rain showers transition to a wintry mix. Snow showers may be mixed in with the rain showers.
However, surface temperatures are expected to stay just above freezing in Metro Atlanta on Sunday morning, limiting the accumulation of the wintry precipitation and limiting the impacts. The North Georgia Mountains may encounter colder temperatures for a longer duration, so anywhere from a dusting to up to 1 inch of accumulation is possible for the higher elevations of the Georgia Mountains through sunrise on Sunday.
Afternoon temperatures will also climb into the mid 40s, and the precipitation will move out of Metro Atlanta and North Georgia through the afternoon. The animation below illustrates the Futurecast surface temperatures for Metro Atlanta and North Georgia.
As quickly as this system moves in this weekend, it will move out! Temperatures will climb back into the 60s on Monday and Tuesday, and into the 70s by Wednesday and Thursday.