Meteorologist Kirk Mellish says the severe weather today could not only bring heavy rain, thunderstorms and damaging winds, but the bad stuff could actually "sneak-up" on us without much warning.

"Strong winds can come with downpours even without lightning or thunder, so you may not have the usual notice from mother nature," says Mellish.  "Adding to the danger, the fast forward speed of cells mean less effective weather bulletins; warnings can lag onset and lag end time,"

The Metro Atlanta area is in a under a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.  According to Mellish, a low cape/high wind shear environment means small spin up tornadoes small and briefer than normal. 

"A long-track type tornado is possible but less likely. Strait line wind damage is more probable unless the system weakens which is always possible," says Mellish
 
The Weather Service has also issued a flood watch through this evening for everyone north of a line from Cartersville to Atlanta. That includes the metro Atlanta counties of Bartow, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, north Fulton and Paulding. One to two inches of rain are possible in the watch area, with higher amounts possible in spots.

The storms will be the marker of the strong cold front. Before they get here, Mellish says to expect mild temperatures with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s. Afterwards, it will be much colder with overnight lows back down into the mid 30s.

Once today’s threat passes, Mellish says there will be plenty of sunshine for the rest of the week. Thursday and Friday, expect highs mostly in the 40s and lows around 30.

Things will be a little warmer for the weekend. There will be a few clouds with highs near 55 including Super Bowl Sunday,  Mellish says with lows in the 30s.