


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Atlanta, GA
Issued by NWS Atlanta, GA
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860 FXUS62 KFFC 291053 AFDFFC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 653 AM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 ...New 12Z Aviation Discussion... .SHORT TERM... (Today through Saturday) Issued at 305 AM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 Key Messages: - Isolated to scattered showers and embedded thunderstorms are possible primarily along and south of I-20 this afternoon, increasing in coverage and spreading northward into the weekend. - Highs in the 80s today and mid-70s to mid-80s tomorrow remain below average for late August. Discussion: A shortwave digging across the Great Lakes region -- embedded within the broader troughiness at the mid-levels -- is working to nudge our presiding surface high offshore over the next day or so. HiRes guidance suggests the aforementioned high will be swiftly replaced by yet another high pressure system expanding into the Mid-Atlantic, setting the stage for some in-situ wedging over the next few days. With a swath of moisture traversing the northwesterly flow to our west and streaming into the Deep South, our previously unseasonably dry airmass has begun to erode. Yesterday`s 12Z sounding analyzed 1.03" of PW (sub-25th percentile), which had already increased in 1.62" by our most recent 00Z sounding -- closer to the 75th percentile. As the column continues to moisten, chances for isolated to scattered showers and perhaps some isolated embedded thunderstorms will return to round off the week. Chances today will be highest along our far southern tier, in closest proximity to a stalled frontal boundary draped across the Florida panhandle/northern Gulf. Highs this afternoon will be similar to those of yesterday, topping out in the 80s and trending slightly cooler in areas with higher chances for showers and thunderstorms. Lows will drop into the upper 50s to upper 60s with more insulating cloud cover overnight. Moisture will continue to build in through Saturday, so expect rain chances to expand northward, increasing in coverage as they do so (with 50-70% chances for areas south of I-20, and 15-40% chances to the north). Modest instability looks to be present to kick off the weekend, so we may see more thunderstorms thrown into the mix. Due to the thicker cloud cover expected with more numerous convection, highs on Saturday will be several degrees cooler areawide than today (in the mid-70s to mid-80s). 96 && .LONG TERM... (Saturday night through Thursday) Issued at 305 AM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 Key Messages: - Below normal temperatures through next week. - Scattered rain chances focused to central Georgia through the weekend and into next week. Discussion: The extended forecast begins with the frontal boundary that was laying across south GA having now moved into N FL and continues to push south Sunday. This boundary extends westward across the northern gulf and then up into southern LA and eastern TX. There are a few waves moving east along the frontal boundary out of the central and southern plains but the best moisture and dynamics stays south of the area across the gulf and the FL peninsula through the end of next week. This pattern will keep a decent amount of moisture across the region keeping diurnally driven precip chances in the 30% to 60% range across the CWA (Highest chances will be across central GA which is closest in proximity to the frontal boundary). At the same time a wedge of high pressure begins to build down the eastern seaboard Sun pushing into NE GA Sun night/Mon morning. This wedge will bring in cooler/moist easterly flow keeping temps low, but also keeping precip chances up through day 7. This wedge appears to become the dominate feature for north and central GA through at least Wed/Thu of next week. The models are hinting at a fairly strong frontal boundary moving south out of the Northern Plains Wed and pushing into NW GA by Thu Evening. If this does occur it should help to scour out the wedge and bring in a cooler/drier airmass for next Fri/Sat. The models have been showing some consistency with this pattern so starting to have some confidence in it coming to fruition. Temps will remain below seasonal norms with highs mainly in the upper 70s to middle 80s. Night time low temps will drop down into the upper 50s to middle 60s through day 7. 01 && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 651 AM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 Primarily VFR conds exp thru the TAF period. Patchy MVFR to low- VFR cigs psbl through 15Z, but fairly low confidence on placement. Most sites likely to go BKN MVFR (perhaps lower for CSG/MCN) late period. SCT-BKN cigs at 3-6kft to linger into the evening. VCSH psbl for northern TAF sites as early as 18-19Z, with best chances for direct terminal impacts in -SHRA coming Saturday morning. -TSRA should be relegated to CSG/MCN this afternoon. Prevailing -SHRA likely after 12Z tomorrow. Winds will be light out of the E side today, generally at 7kts or less. Ocnl CALM/VRB conds are possible even after daybreak given weak flow. //ATL Confidence...12Z Update... Medium confidence ceiling progression and precipitation chances. High confidence all other elements. 96 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 85 64 79 63 / 0 30 40 10 Atlanta 85 67 80 65 / 10 40 40 20 Blairsville 80 59 78 58 / 0 10 30 10 Cartersville 87 64 84 64 / 0 20 30 10 Columbus 82 69 78 66 / 40 50 70 20 Gainesville 85 64 81 63 / 0 20 30 10 Macon 83 67 76 65 / 20 50 60 20 Rome 87 62 84 62 / 0 10 20 10 Peachtree City 84 67 78 63 / 20 40 50 20 Vidalia 85 69 79 66 / 30 30 60 20 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...96 LONG TERM....01 AVIATION...96