Special Weather Statement, NWS Atlanta, GA

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
758 PM EDT Thu Aug 20 2026

...New 00Z Aviation Discussion...

.KEY MESSAGES...

 - Scattered storms will be possible during the afternoon and
   evening today and Friday. Some storms could be severe with
   damaging winds, frequent lightning, and locally heavy rainfall.

 - Warm and humid conditions through Friday, with heat index
   values climbing back into the triple digits each afternoon.

 - Dry and relatively cooler conditions move in over the weekend
   into early next week.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(This afternoon through Friday)
Issued at 151 PM EDT Thu Aug 20 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Potential:

Starting out with relatively benign weather early this afternoon
under mostly clear skies and light winds, courtesy of some remnant
dry air in the low to mid-levels. Despite this drier air, we
could still see a pop-up showers and storms through the early
evening hours as diurnal heating peaks and some moisture starts
spreading over the area. By around sunset, a frontal boundary and
mid-level shortwave will be dropping across the TN Valley,
sparking off a line of strong to severe storms in a moist and
unstable environment. Guidance continues to show this line
pushing into far NW GA around 8PM, then gradually falling apart as
it moves southeast across North GA and into Central GA through
around 12-2AM. The primary threat with this line of storms would
be damaging wind gusts, in addition to frequent lightning and
locally heavy rainfall.

On Friday, the area of highest moisture and instability out ahead
of the frontal boundary will slide south across our area,
generally along and south of the I-85 corridor. With this, we can
expect numerous showers and storms developing during the afternoon
and evening across that corridor, with drier air and low rain
chances to the north. A few storms may be strong to severe across
Central GA, with damaging winds as the primary threat, in addition
to frequent lightning and locally heavy rainfall.

Heat Concerns:

A warm and humid airmass spreading back across the area today will
allow high temperatures to surge into the mid to upper 90s, with
heat index values in the triple digits through the early evening.
These heat concerns will return Friday afternoon and evening, with
near heat advisory conditions across Central GA. Please remember
to use some caution if you are outdoors exerting yourself,
especially during peak afternoon heating. Thankfully, a drier and
relatively cooler airmass will start to spread across the area
behind a frontal boundary Friday night.

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Saturday morning through next Wednesday)
Issued at 151 PM EDT Thu Aug 20 2026

As the weekend rolls around and the front clears out. we should
be left with a few days of very pleasant weather. Temps will
remain in the upper 80s and 90s until Wednesday, but RH values in
the afternoon will drop into the mid to low 40s bringing heat
index values down and making it feel very dry for this time of
year.

With this dry airmass behind the front, we'll also get a break
from thunderstorms during the afternoon as well until Wednesday
when winds become more southerly and we start to pull moisture
back in from the Gulf. This weekend and early next week will be a
great opportunity to be outside without hating it.

After Wednesday, the upper level flow becomes more zonal and
we'll start to see a return to the diurnal pattern that we are
used to. With that pattern, we are also expecting a slow return of
triple digit heat indices for the second half of the work week.

&&

.AVIATION...
(00Z TAFS)
Issued at 749 PM EDT Thu Aug 20 2026

Primarily VFR conds exp thru the pd. Low confidence but
potentially high impact TSRA fcst this evening/overnight: best
window for TSRA at northern terminals is 02-06Z, and may be
accompanied by strong VRB gusts to 25-35kt. Non-zero chc we remain
largely pcpn free until tmrw aftn. FEW-SCT cu at 3-5kft will kick
off in the AM, giving way to additional chcs for TSRA beginning
18-19Z Fri. Winds will be tricky, largely light and VRB overnight,
generally favoring the W side at 5-8kts aft 15Z.

//ATL Confidence...00Z Update...
Low confidence evening TSRA forecast.
High confidence all other elements.

96

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Athens          73  95  70  92 /  20  60  40  10
Atlanta         75  94  72  92 /  40  40  20   0
Blairsville     68  86  64  85 /  60  40  10   0
Cartersville    73  93  70  93 /  60  30  10   0
Columbus        75  95  73  94 /  30  40  40  10
Gainesville     73  92  70  91 /  40  40  20   0
Macon           74  95  72  93 /  10  60  50  20
Rome            72  93  69  93 /  70  20  10   0
Peachtree City  73  94  70  92 /  30  40  20  10
Vidalia         76  98  72  93 /   0  70  50  40

&&

.FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

SHORT TERM...Culver
LONG TERM....Vaughn
AVIATION...96