More storms, more heat expected

Published 4:00 am Monday, July 17, 2017

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Strong chances for thunderstorms early in the week over South Georgia should give way later to more heat, according to forecasters.

For the next few days, daily thunderstorm chances run as high as 70 percent in the region, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast.

“It’s the typical Southern late afternoon-early evening storm pattern,” said William Watson with the weather service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.

The storms are being generated by a dip in the jet stream over the eastern U.S., said Randy Atkins, a meteorologist with the private forecasting firm AccuWeather.

A strong sea breeze from the Gulf of Mexico is also contributing, Watson said.

Both forecasters said daytime high temperatures would dip into the high 80s to around 90 through Wednesday at least.

The storms are expected to be light on rain, with Atkins saying most spots will only get a quarter to half an inch per day. Watson said the Valdosta area can expect about an inch during the entire period.

“Of course, if a storm lingers or stalls, a few spots could get an inch or two (at once),” Atkins said. “But that’s the exception rather than the rule.”

There’s little chance of a widespread severe weather outbreak, he said, though isolated strong storms are possible across the region. Flash flooding associated with isolated heavy downpours are the biggest concern, Atkins said.

Starting Wednesday, a high-pressure ridge should start moving into the South from the Midwest, bringing drier air and shrinking the storm chances, both Atkins and Watson said. Daytime highs could reach 95 by the end of the week, Watson said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.