Updating yesterday’s story about stormy weather moving in:
The National Weather Service Wednesday afternoon issued a hazardous weather outlook that includes severe thunderstorms overnight, including the possibility of tornado weather.
The outlook, issued shortly before noon, calls for heavy rains across much of north and western Georgia, starting Wednesday night and overnight into Thursday morning.
That threat includes Cobb and metro Atlanta, generally from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday.
The NWS Atlanta office said that “the primary risk will likely be with an area of storms pushing eastward late tonight into Thursday morning. The main threats will be tornadoes (some of which could be significant or longer tracked), damaging winds over the primary risk will likely be with an area of storms pushing eastward late tonight into Thursday morning.
“The main threats will be tornadoes (some of which could be significant or longer tracked), damaging winds over 60 mph, large hail, and flash flooding. mph, large hail, and flash flooding.”
Georgians are being asked to prepare to move to safety, including signing up for alerts, finding a safe place in their homes
A tornado watch was issued for much of Mississippi and Alabama Wednesday afternoon, and there are some portions of Alabama under a tornado warning.
That storm front is expected to move into Georgia and metro Atlanta later this evening. Here’s the NWS briefing.
Cobb County government issued the following information shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday:
“Cobb EMA will be monitoring the system, and we do have a robust network of tornado sirens in the county. However, you should not rely on these sirens as a warning device in your home because in tree-laden Cobb County these sirens can often be hard to hear inside a house.
“Cobb DOT has crews on standby tonight to respond to any reported storm damage or road closures and to deal with isolated road flooding that could occur.
“If conditions are dangerous before sunrise, please avoid venturing out on the roads.”
Wednesday’s low is expected to be in the high 50s, with the chance of storms dropping to 50 percent by Thursday afternoon and highs in the high 60s. Lows will be in the mid 40s as the storms clear through.
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