Rainy Night in Georgia!

Fay threatens Atlanta flooding, tornadoes
By MIKE MORRIS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, August 25, 2008

The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay, after skirting the Gulf coast and dumping heavy rain across South Georgia, have turned to the northeast and are expected to bring torrential rainfall to North Georgia beginning Monday evening.

The National Weather Service has posted a flash flood watch for the northwest corner of the state, beginning at 4 p.m. Monday and continuing through Tuesday night. The watch will be in effect for an area generally west of I-85 that includes most of metro Atlanta.

The rain that fell across metro Atlanta on Sunday — produced by the fringes of Fay as it tracked across north Florida — was “just a prelude of things to come,” a Weather Service statement said.

“Monday night has the potential to be much worse with thunderstorms, very heavy rain and possible tornadoes.”

Fay, downgraded to a tropical depression, was centered in southwest Mississippi Monday morning, but was expected to be in central Alabama by Monday night, then track slowly into Tennessee by Wednesday.

“This track will put North Georgia in the very wet right quadrant of this system,” the Weather Service said.

Forecasters said heavy rain and thunderstorms rotating around the east side of Fay would spread into west-central Georgia by midday Monday, and further north by evening.

“Any thunderstorms will produce torrential rainfally and potentially several inches of rain,” the Weather Service said.

Up to five inches of rain is expected across parts of North and Central Georgia by Tuesday afternoon, forecasters said. The rain could continue for much of the week, with totals of 10 inches possible.

Heavy rain Sunday night in Cherokee County combined with a leaking roof to send several ceiling tiles crashing to the floor at the Canton police department. No injuries were reported, and a police spokeswoman said no records were damaged.

The Monday morning commute began messy on wet metro roadways, with early crashes jamming I-285 and I-20 in south DeKalb County.

The forecast for metro Atlanta calls for a near 100 percent chance of rain through Tuesday night, with highs in the mid- to upper 70s and lows around 70.

Wednesday will be cloudy, with a 30 percent chance of rain and highs in the low 80s. After a mostly sunny and dry Thursday, more rain is possible Friday through Sunday, the Weather Service said.

The chance of rain is 30 percent Friday through Sunday, with weekend highs in the upper 80s and low 90s and lows around 70.