A tropical system swirling off the coast of Texas, southwest of Houston, has formed into the first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arthur.
Tropical Storm Arthur will quickly move northeast today, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to the Southeast United States over the next 24 hours.
This afternoon, the tropical storm will swiftly move northeast towards Louisiana before sweeping through Alabama and Georgia tomorrow.
The animation below illustrates the Futurecast Radar Imagery for the Southeast region through Friday morning.
As the tropical system moves into Alabama, it will generate a “mesoscale convective vortex”, or a miniature spinning feature that will swirl into the state of Georgia.
The animation below illustrates the same system as it moves through Metro Atlanta.
As a result, heavy rain and gusty winds will impact the Metro Atlanta area beginning Thursday morning through late Thursday night.
Impacts: Flash Flooding, Damaging Wind Gusts
As much as 1 to 3 inches of rainfall is to be expected for the Metro Atlanta area, prompting a Flood Watch that remains in effect through Saturday morning.
Wind gusts may pick up on Thursday evening, from 8pm to midnight Friday, as the core of the storm passes through the southside of Metro Atlanta. Wind gusts as high as 40 to 50 mph are possible, prompting the potential for downed trees and powerlines late Thursday night.
The animation below illustrates the Futurecast Wind Gusts for Thursday night.
The storm is forecast to exit the state of Georgia by Friday.