Latest Mesoscale Discussion: Damaging Winds Possible as Storms Weaken

The severe weather threat for Severe Thunderstorm Watch 216 continues. Sporadic damaging winds remain possible as a weakening squall line moves across northern Georgia through the evening. However, with the onset of nighttime cooling, the severe threat should become less widespread and robust. Downstream watch issuance is not expected.

The convective line pushing east across eastern Alabama and northern Georgia has started to show signs of weakening, as indicated by falling echo tops and warming cloud-top temperatures in the latest satellite imagery. This weakening is likely due to the cooler surface temperatures, which have dropped from the upper 70s and low 80s into the low 70s and upper 60s over the past hour or two. While the low-level inversion remains shallow in the early stages of this cooling cycle, enough buoyancy may persist across northern and northeast Georgia, as well as the far western Carolinas, where dewpoints are still in the low to mid 60s. This could allow for a few stronger updraft pulses within the squall line, which may produce damaging winds at the surface. However, the overall threat is expected to decrease as time goes on and as the atmosphere becomes more stable with increasing low-level stability and modest wind shear.

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