National Weather Service (NWS) Atlanta:
- Unfortunately, Hurricane Michael has strengthened overnight and is now a Category 4 storm with maximum winds of 140 mph. It is still expected to make landfall between Panama City and Mexico Beach in the Florida Panhandle early this afternoon. Outer bands with heavy rain and isolated tornadoes will begin to affect the much of central and east Georgia this afternoon.
- Hurricane Michael will cause a significant impact on much of middle and eastern Georgia starting this afternoon.
- Winds of 25 to 45 mph with gusts over 60 mph are likely. We cannot rule out isolated areas of wind gusts over 75 mph. The strongest winds will occur tonight.
- Torrential rain and flash flooding is expected
- Tornadoes are also possible
- The winds, heavy rain and tornado threats will diminish after sunrise on Thursday, however, larger rivers may continue to rise.
Impacts on Fulton County:
- We can expect max sustained winds at 24 mph with gusts up to 37 mph. (Our school systems will need to monitor wind speeds closely during the Thursday morning bus movement)
- Please be aware that our highest winds are predicted to come after a heavy period of rain Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. This will increase the potential for trees falling.
- Rainfall totals could reach 2 inches in a 36 hours period.
- No tropical storm or hurricane watch/warnings are in effect or planned for our area at this time.
