Despite threats of 4-5 inches of rain along the I-85 corridor due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida, it appears that most of the Atlanta area only received in the neighborhood of 2-3 inches of precipitation. Here in Lawrenceville, I’ve recorded 1.87 inches since the rain started early this morning. In Alpharetta, they recorded 3.11 inches, and in Johns Creek, the Atlanta Athletic Club measured 2.98 inches.

Other Georgia locations received much more rain. Pine Mountain was reporting 5.48 inches of rainfall today, while Columbus recorded 5.01 inches. These two areas seem to be the hardest hit, and from glancing at the radar this afternoon, it seems that Alabama got the most rain. Gainesville recorded 2.44 inches, while Marietta saw 2.77 inches. The official Atlanta rain gauge at Hartsfield Airport recorded 2.71 inches.

The rain did cause some area rivers to reach flood stage. Big Creek in Alpharetta is flooding, as is Pew Creek in Gwinnett County, Peachtree Creek in Atlanta, and the Nickajack Creek in Cobb county. Suwanee Creek is expected to experience minor flooding tomorrow morning.

There’s still more rain to come before Ida bids Georgia farewell (and her remnants cause problems in the Delmarva peninsula). But, looking at the radar now, it seems like the forecasters should have picked I-59 in Alabama as the worst hit area, rather then the I-85 corridor.

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather today, with highs eight degrees above normal. In fact, the last week is the first time we’ve gone seven days without any rain since the middle of August. That’s about to change.

The map to the right tells the story. A combination of a cold front, a low pressure system now over Texas, and Hurricane Ida will bring as much as four inches of rain to north Georgia beginning Monday night through Wednesday morning.

Much will depend on Ida’s exact path. While the official forecast from the Hurricane Center takes her path over extreme south Georgia, the GFS and Canadian models are much further north, passing over the Atlanta area. Over the past few forecast updates, the Hurricane Center has brought Ida’s path further north.

The Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for much of North Georgia from Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning. Despite the lack of rain over the last week, the ground is still extremely wet, and any rain over two inches or so could trigger yet more flooding.

Excuse the punning, but it looks like Ida has formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, and she could be heading our way. Ida became a tropical storm late Wednesday and has since hit land over Nicaragua and Honduras, reducing her intensity to a tropical depression.

Once she emerges over water, she is expected to return to tropical storm state, and her path is taking her north over the Gulf of Mexico towards the Florida panhandle. While nothing is certain (the storm wouldn’t make it to the US coast until next Wednesday at the earliest), there’s a possibility Georgia could see some tropical weather this year after all.