Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Atlanta, GA
Issued by NWS Atlanta, GA
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011 FXUS62 KFFC 021755 AFDFFC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA Issued by National Weather Service Morristown TN 1255 PM EST Tue Dec 2 2025 ...New 18Z Aviation Discussion... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1243 PM EST Tue Dec 2 2025 - Rainfall is expected through this afternoon. Periods of heavy rainfall will be possible, especially overnight. 1-2" of rain expected for most areas. - Another wave of rainfall expected Thursday afternoon through Saturday. Potential for wintry precipitation remains low at this time. 1-3" of rainfall expected area-wide with the highest totals across SW GA. && .SHORT TERM... (This afternoon through Wednesday) Issued at 1108 AM EST Tue Dec 2 2025 A majority of the rain has moved east of the region this morning with widespread mostly cloud to overcast conditions continuing throughout the afternoon and evening. As the front moves out, High pressure builds into the area from the southern plains with a drier airmass moving in across the region. This ridge becomes centered just W of the state across AL/TN by 12z Wed keeping things dry through Wed night. Expecting cold temps to push back in behind the front with low temps tonight mainly in the 20s to lower 30s. Highs Wed will only get up into the lower to middle 50s with some 40s across the N GA mountains. && .LONG TERM... (Thursday morning through next Monday) Issued at 1108 AM EST Tue Dec 2 2025 The benign and sunny weather on Wednesday will be short-lived. Wednesday night into Thursday, shortwave ridge moves northeast towards the Mid-Atlantic coast and southwesterly mid and upper level flow will set up across the Southeast once again. Isentropic lift will result in increasing cloud cover spreading from west to east across the area into Thursday morning and will keep temperatures slightly warmer and more mild. Highs on Thursday will range from the upper 40s in far northwest Georgia to near 60 in east- central Georgia. During the daytime on Thursday, a strong shortwave trough with connections on the Arctic side of the jet is expected to move across the Northeast CONUS. This will nudge a cold front southward towards north Georgia. Furthermore, as this trough quickly swings away to the northeast, a surface high (1025+ mb) will set up over the Appalachians and push east. A CAD wedge is then expected to develop along the lee side of the Appalachians and spread into north Georgia late Thursday night into Friday. Another shortwave will meanwhile traverse the southern branch of the jet and along the southwesterly flow over our region Thursday into Friday. With a baroclinic zone in the vicinity of the cold front that nudged into the area, a surface low associated with the shortwave is likely to develop over the northern Gulf and move northeastward into the forecast area. Isolated light showers could enter the western portion of the CWA as early as mid-day Thursday. Precipitation will increase in coverage and spread eastward, and is expected to become widespread by Friday morning through much of the day. By early Saturday, rain chances appear that they will gradually trail off from northwest to southeast as the cold front begins to advance through the area, with chance PoPs forecast in north Georgia and likely PoPs forecast in central Georgia. Uncertainty remains in the ensemble guidance with respect to the overall strength of this system moving through the forecast area, which impacts how far north overrunning moisture will be able to extend and ultimately where the axis of heaviest rainfall sets up. At this time, this axis is forecast to be in south-central Georgia, to the south of Columbus to Macon. Here, totals of around 2" are forecast, with progressively lower totals further north. As moisture overspreads the wedge and rain falls through, latent cooling processes could serve to reinforce the dome of cold air underneath the wedge. While this setup has commonly led to wintry weather in north Georgia, it is early in the season and we may not be quite able to tap into cold enough temperatures yet. Furthermore, guidance continues to favor a slightly weaker surface high to the northeast, which will lead to a weaker wedge and cold air damming. As a result, temperatures even in the highest elevations of far north Georgia are forecast to only drop into the mid 30s on Friday and Saturday mornings, which would favor a cold rain across the area. Still, the evolution of the shortwave over the northeast and following surface high to the northeast will need to be monitored. A deeper shortwave and stronger surface high would lead to a stronger wedge with higher wintry precipitation probabilities. For now, the chances of a wintry solution occurring continue to be trending lower. Uncertainty also remains with respect to the movement of the front and when precipitation will move south and east out of the forecast area. Some ensemble members indicate the front clearing the area as early as Saturday morning, while others slow the progression of the front later into Saturday. Either way, widespread rainfall is expected over a multi-day period with 1 to 3 inches of rainfall area-wide with higher totals across southern areas and lower totals to the north near the Tennessee state line. By Sunday, long range guidance indicates a shortwave dropping from the Great Plains towards the Tennessee Valley region. A surface low developing ahead of this shortwave could have the potential to bring another round of rainfall to north Georgia on Sunday. However, there is ample model disagreement at this time about how this system will develop and evolve, with PoPs still being capped at slight chance on Sunday and Sunday night to account for the uncertainty. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1243 PM EST Tue Dec 2 2025 A lot of IFR CIGs remain across the region as drizzle is slow to move out. A lot of MVFR CIGs remain upstream. Vis has seen significant improvement over the last few hours. CIGs will slowly improve to MVFR this afternoon. After sunset, some low (MVFR) CIGs will linger through the night and morning hours. Northwesterly winds will gust up to 20 knots late this afternoon. //ATL Confidence...18Z Update... Medium confidence in all elements. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 31 51 32 53 / 0 0 0 20 Atlanta 30 51 34 51 / 0 0 0 20 Blairsville 24 50 29 49 / 0 0 0 10 Cartersville 25 51 29 50 / 0 0 0 20 Columbus 30 55 34 55 / 0 0 0 40 Gainesville 32 51 34 53 / 0 0 0 20 Macon 30 54 31 57 / 0 0 0 30 Rome 29 55 32 54 / 0 0 0 20 Peachtree City 26 53 30 52 / 0 0 0 30 Vidalia 36 56 35 59 / 0 0 0 20 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...MRX LONG TERM....MRX AVIATION...MRX