Bring your umbrellas to outdoor activities on the Fourth of July, and prepare to change locations because of lightning during heavy downpours, warns the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City.
“Fourth of July outdoor activities will likely be impacted,” the NWS said in a special weather statement Sunday.
“[A] prolonged period of strong thunderstorms and very heavy rainfall [is] likely Tuesday through Friday,” the forecasters are saying.
NWS forecasters looking ahead this week say this:
“[A] stagnant, yet vigorous upper level pattern is bringing together the ingredients for a prolonged period of thunderstorms and very heavy rainfall across north and central Georgia for much of this week.
“Warm southerly flow, rich in moisture, is developing across Florida and the Carolinas. As high pressure aloft over the western Atlantic and an upper level trough of low pressure over the Mississippi Valley move west, this plume of rich moisture will shift west over Georgia and remain in place Tuesday through Friday.
“Rainfall amounts Tuesday through Friday could range from 2 to 4 inches with local amounts around 5 inches possible. Flooding may also occur if very heavy rain repeatedly falls over the same areas.
“In addition, some of these storms could be strong to severe with wind gusts to 60 mph, hail and frequent cloud to ground lightning.
“Persons planning outdoor activities this week, including those on the Fourth of July, should continue to monitor the latest forecasts and begin making contingency plans in case hazardous weather threatens.”
