330 FXUS62 KFFC 151854 AFDFFC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 254 PM EDT Fri Mar 15 2019 .SHORT TERM /Tonight through Saturday Night/... A cold front is currently positioned across the central portion of or forecast area and is continuing to drop southeastward. Scattered showers and some isolated thunderstorms are ongoing ahead of this line, but coverage has diminished through the late morning into the afternoon. Although moderate instability remains throughout central Georgia this afternoon, there is only very weak forcing and shear which will not allow for the development of organized convection. While an isolated storm could become strong and produce some strong, gusty winds, no severe storms are anticipated at this time. After the front clears the area tonight, there remains some uncertainty with respect to how far the cold front sinks into south Georgia/north Florida. Since the parent low has quickly retreated into northeast Canada and the upper-level flow is expected to become westerly and nearly zonal, little to no forcing is there to push the front further to the south. Maintained broken cloud coverage into Saturday throughout much of the area, along with some lingering slight chance PoPs across the far southern tier in the early morning hours to account for the stalling of the boundary. Northwest winds will build into the area as the cold front pushes southeastward out of the area, ushering in a colder airmass into the forecast area. As a result, low temperatures overnight and Saturday night will return to near climatological normals, mainly in the 30s in north Georgia and low to mid 40s in central Georgia. With temperatures expected to drop to near or below freezing in the higher elevations of northeast Georgia overnight, a Freeze Warning has been issued from 08Z to 14Z Saturday. A surface high approaching from the west will allow for a fairly strong pressure gradient to set up behind the front, which will lead to some 15-20 kt wind gusts from this afternoon into Saturday, with even higher gusts up to 25 kts in the mountains. These winds will inhibit the development of frost so opted not to issue a Frost Advisory for tonight. King .LONG TERM /Sunday through Friday/... A dry cold front is expected to move through on Monday. Slightly cooler temperatures are anticipated with values around 5-10 degrees below normal. A second, weak, frontal boundary is anticipated to move south across the area during the latter part of next week. With high pressure holding strong across the Gulf Coast, the front isn't expected to make much progress southward...and very little precip is anticipated with it's passage. Not much cold/cooler air behind this boundary. NListemaa && AVIATION... 18Z Update... Showers and isolated thunderstorms are moving south and east of the metro TAF sites as the cold front progresses into central Georgia, although some VCSH may linger behind until around 20Z. Precipitation is still ongoing at AHN and possible this afternoon at MCN/CSG but is expected to clear those sites by 22Z. Ceilings are improving behind the front from NW to SE, with high MVFR/low VFR in place. Cigs will continue to lift area-wide before scattering out in the early morning hours Saturday. Mainly W winds early this afternoon are shifting to NW and remain so through the rest of the period. Winds are expected to be 7-12 kts with some gusts up to 20 kts through the overnight hours. //ATL Confidence...18Z Update... High confidence on winds. Medium confidence on all other elements. King && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 41 61 37 63 / 5 5 0 0 Atlanta 40 58 38 61 / 5 5 5 0 Blairsville 33 54 31 57 / 5 0 0 0 Cartersville 38 55 34 60 / 5 5 0 0 Columbus 45 62 41 65 / 20 10 10 5 Gainesville 39 57 36 60 / 5 5 0 0 Macon 45 62 40 65 / 20 10 10 5 Rome 38 56 34 61 / 5 5 0 0 Peachtree City 41 59 37 63 / 5 5 5 0 Vidalia 51 65 44 65 / 40 10 10 10 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Freeze Warning from 4 AM to 10 AM EDT Saturday for the following zones: Dawson...Fannin...Gilmer...Lumpkin...Murray...Pickens... Towns...Union...White. && $$ SHORT TERM...King LONG TERM....NListemaa AVIATION...King