WEATHER BULLETIN
WILD WEEKEND BEGINS TODAY, IT ONLY GETS WILDER AS IT PROGRESSES
7:00am Friday UpdateFlood Watches have now been issued for North Georgia for the prospects of 2-4 inches of rain expected the next 36 hours. Details are below.FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
353 AM EST FRI FEB 27 2009
GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>055-057-271700-
/O.NEW.KFFC.FA.A.0002.090227T2100Z-090228T1700Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
DADE-WALKER-CATOOSA-WHITFIELD-MURRAY-FANNIN-GILMER-UNION-TOWNS-
CHATTOOGA-GORDON-PICKENS-DAWSON-LUMPKIN-WHITE-FLOYD-BARTOW-
CHEROKEE-FORSYTH-HALL-BANKS-JACKSON-MADISON-POLK-PAULDING-COBB-
NORTH FULTON-GWINNETT-BARROW-CLARKE-OCONEE-OGLETHORPE-WILKES-
HARALSON-CARROLL-DOUGLAS-SOUTH FULTON-DEKALB-ROCKDALE-WALTON-
NEWTON-MORGAN-GREENE-TALIAFERRO-HEARD-COWETA-FAYETTE-CLAYTON-
HENRY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CALHOUN...DAHLONEGA...CLEVELAND...
ROME...CARTERSVILLE...GAINESVILLE...MARIETTA...ATLANTA...
LAWRENCEVILLE...ATHENS...CARROLLTON...DOUGLASVILLE...EAST POINT...
DECATUR...CONYERS...COVINGTON...NEWNAN...PEACHTREE CITY
353 AM EST FRI FEB 27 2009
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY
MORNING FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA...NORTH
CENTRAL GEORGIA...NORTHEAST GEORGIA...NORTHWEST GEORGIA AND
WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA.
* FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING
* A LARGE STORM SYSTEM PUSHING ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES IS EXPECTED
TO PULL A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI AND TENNESSEE
VALLEY REGION TODAY. A MODERATELY STRONG LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL
FORCE ABUNDANT MOISTURE NORTH FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO INTO THE
SOUTHEAST U.S. IN ADVANCE OF THIS SYSTEM.
AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTHEAST...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER ALABAMA AND MOVE INTO
GEORGIA BY THIS AFTERNOON. THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BECOME
STATIONARY OVER NORTH GEORGIA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY AS A SERIES OF
UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE PARALLEL TO THE FRONT. THIS WILL
CAUSE A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL
ALABAMA AND DEEPEN AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST INTO THE CAROLINAS BY
SATURDAY NIGHT.
WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES WITH ISOLATED 4
INCHES POSSIBLE CAN BE ANTICIPATED OVER MOST OF NORTH GEORGIA
TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT AREA AT THIS TIME
WILL BE GENERALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM LAGRANGE TO MADISON TO
WASHINGTON.
* THIS HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY CAUSE SOME RIVERS...STREAMS AND
CREEKS TO RISE TO LEVELS THAT RESULT IN MINOR FLOODING.
LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN URBAN AREAS AND
MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN DUE TO RAPID RUNOFF.
A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FLOODING
ESPECIALLY ALONG LARGER STREAMS AND RIVERS. IF YOU ARE IN THE
WATCH AREA...CHECK YOUR PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...ESPECIALLY IF
YOU HAVE INTERESTS ALONG AREA RIVERS. KEEP INFORMED...AND BE
READY FOR ACTION IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR IF A FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED.
This is just Phase One, Phase Two comes with the slight chance of severe weather today into Saturday. The main threats are for damaging winds with squall lines, it's not expected to be like last Wednesday with the big tornado outbreak.
Now here comes the Third and tricky part of the Phases this weekend, the possibility of accumulating snow. Models continue to indicate accumulating snow to slide southeast affecting GA, AL, TN, NC, SC, and maybe FL? That seems to be what the JMA computer believes, it even wants to bring snow as far south of Tampa, FL! Pix below:
As always, the axis for the heaviest snow depends on the track, there are current 3 different senarios on what track the closed upper level low will take.
Scenario#1 - Least likely at this point
The low tracks more north of GA and brings the heaviest snow to the TN Valley and the Western Carolinas, with only flurries maybe in Atlanta, the problem with this scenario is those places may not be cold enough to support snow at first, so that would cut down on any significant accumulations.
Scenario #2 - My favored solution
The low pressure tracks further south into Central AL and GA and brings places like Birmingham,AL Atlanta,GA Columbia,SC the heaviest amounts of snow. There's a 50/50 shot with this scenario, that's good enough for me right now.
Scenario #3 - 50/50 shot
The LP system goes even further south bringing the heaviest snow south of I-20 into places such as Montgomery,AL Columbus,Ga, Macon,Ga just north of Charleston,SC and even north/central Florida could get into some snow shower fun!
I'll have more on this later today, right now I have to run out and get some milk, eggs, and bread!