FORECAST: Warm, dry weather persists for end of the week

Potential for relief in store with rain on Saturday night, but not enough to end drought conditions

Georgia is dry as a bone right now, and it’ll stay that way even with some weekend rain in the forecast – and even that isn’t set in stone per the NWS Peachtree City predictions in place.

The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for dry weather to remain over Northwest Georgia, leading to continued fire danger statements being put out by the meteorologists in Metro Atlanta as the thermometer is set to continue rising.

Temps are expected to get up to the upper 80s on Thursday, hit the low 90s on Friday, and stay right around that range on Saturday with sunshine dominating throughout the coming days. Winds are set to settle down and provide some relief of the fire dangers, but not much. Low humidity and well above-normal temperatures over the Southeast are set to linger through the remainder of the week.

Rain chances are in store for Saturday night – right now sitting at just 50% chances – with the lows settling in the upper 40s and potential with warmer air meeting a cold front the likelihood for severe weather increasing as a result.

Expect thunderstorms as the rain forecast continues to develop through the rest of the week.

The wet weather won’t stick around for long as cloudy skies should be clearing out by Sunday afternoon in Northwest Georgia, though the high will only be in the 70s and much closer to what’s expected this time of year.

Highs by the start of next week with the return of sunshine will hit the upper 70s and low 80s and the thermometer will drop during the overnight hours into the 40s and 50s during the opening days of the upcoming week.

Relief from the drought that still holds a grip on the state won’t come soon enough, but extended forecasts show chances of rain increasing by the latter half of the month and bring the characteristic April showers that are expected, just in time for May flowers to bloom.

Bad news? Even with a few days of extended rain, it will bring only temporary relief from otherwise dry conditions expected ahead. A “Super El Nino” is developing and stretching across the Pacific from west to east, changing wind patterns and ocean temperatures and fueling drier weather over the southern half of the country.

Heading into the summer months, that will be good news for residents along the Gulf coast and up the Atlantic seaboard, since wind sheers will knock down hurricanes forming in the Atlantic basin off the west African coast.