ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday urged Georgians to "please remain alert" as a severe storm system was expected to move into the state later in the evening.
"We’re tracking some severe weather moving into Georgia that is likely to affect much of the state this afternoon and tomorrow morning," the governor posted on X. "Please remain alert and cautious as you travel, and listen to trusted news and local authorities to stay safe."
It comes as the dynamic weather system is poised to bring wind, rain and storm threats to north Georgia on Monday night and into Tuesday.
A high wind watch is in effect Monday evening through Tuesday evening. It includes Murray, Fannin, Gilmer, Union, Towns, Dawson, Lumpkin and White counties. Winds will be from the southeast at 20-30mph, with some wind gusts up to 50mph.
The winds will start whipping up Monday night, overnight into Tuesday. Wind gusts this strong could bring down some trees and powerlines and cause power outages.
This system also has a lot of rain with it. We could see 2-4 inches of rain during the day Tuesday. Some localized areas could see a little more. We will need to watch for some isolated areas of flash flooding possible in some spots.
Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security posted Monday: "We continue to monitor the significant severe weather event expected to arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, January 9th. While the severe weather threat will be primarily for South and Central Georgia, heavy rainfall and high non-thunderstorm winds could also cause localized flooding and downed trees/powerlines in North Georgia. Several counties in far North Georgia are under a High Wind Warning for non-thunderstorm wind gusts up to 50 mph, and the remainder of Georgia is under a Wind Advisory for tomorrow. A squall line will begin to move into western GA by sunrise and continue to push east through late morning and early afternoon. The main window for significant severe weather tomorrow will be between mid-morning and mid-afternoon across South and Central Georgia. Stay tuned to local weather forecasts for the latest info."
