WEATHER-TRAFFIC: Atlanta hits 90 degrees on first day of summer, delays build on I-285

Welcome to summer, metro Atlanta.

Summer officially kicked off at 11:54 a.m. Friday with the summer solstice. It certainly feels like summer outside. Just after 4 p.m., Atlanta hit 90 degrees, which is slightly above average for this time of year.

It's sunny and warm, but construction projects and crashes are causing delays on some major metro Atlanta roads for the evening commute, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

There is lots of volume along all parts of I-285, WSB traffic reporter Ashley Frasca said.

In Clayton County, a tractor-trailer crash on the outer loop is causing major delays at I-85, the Traffic Center reported. Just one right lane is open.

And in Cobb, a wreck on I-75 South has two left lanes blocked near the South Loop. Drivers are urged to use Cobb Parkway as an alternate route.

There is also extra traffic on Northside Drive headed downtown because of a convention at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Expect delays through the weekend.

After a wet and stormy few days, North Georgia is warm and dry Friday afternoon. The projected high is 92 degrees in Atlanta.

“Everything is coming together to make this a real first day of summer,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “Not only does it say that on the calendar, it is going to feel like midsummer this afternoon.”

Friday will see the most daylight hours of any day this year.

“Because every second counts, we'll give it down to the second,” Monahan said. “Fourteen hours, 23 minutes and 58 seconds of daylight to enjoy today, and it is going to be hot daylight.”

The chance of rain increases Friday evening, but Monahan said he still expects North Georgia to stay mostly dry throughout the day. That’s expected to change for the first half of the weekend, though.

“Very early tomorrow morning, we're going to see the first in a series of systems come in from the north,” Monahan said. “It will be weakening as it comes into the northeast Georgia mountains, but there will be some isolated showers and storms before sunrise on Saturday.”

There is a chance for an isolated strong storm embedded in that cluster of storms, he said.

Monahan said the 60 percent chance of storms shouldn’t keep you from outdoor activities on Saturday because there will be plenty of dry periods in between waves of storms.

“This is going to be the pattern for a lot of this weekend,” he said. “Storms start to the north and then drop down to the south down across North Georgia. For your Saturday afternoon, there will be some more scattered storms. In between, though, a lot of sunshine.”

Scattered storms are 40 percent likely on Sunday, according to the latest forecast. Monahan said he expects drier weather for the start of next week with afternoon highs in the low 90s.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.

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