Tornado Watch Expired For Some GA Counties Amid Severe Storms

GEORGIA — A tornado watch issued Thursday for several Georgia counties amid storms has expired for some of these areas.

The National Weather Service initially placed 59 counties under the tornado watch; however, it expired for some metro Atlanta counties.

The tornado watch remained for west central, north central, east central and central Georgia until 1 p.m. Thursday.

The watch comes after several thunderstorm warnings were triggered across the state overnight into parts of south Georgia.

The weather service said a thunderstorm was set to move over southeast Paulding, DeKalb, south Cobb, Douglas, southwest Gwinnett, south Fulton and north Clayton counties early Thursday morning.

Around 8:30 a.m., a strong storm was near Atlanta and heading southeast at 35 mph, weather officials said.

Minor tree limb damage was expected, and heavy rain was a threat to roadways as the weather service predicted brief street flooding.

As the storms travel through Georgia, anticipated hazards are large hail, frequent lightning strikes, locally heavy rain and damaging wind gusts. Isolated tornadoes are possible.

Then, another round of storms are forecast to enter the area late Thursday night through Friday morning before targeting central Georgia through Friday afternoon.

The weekend is expected to be clear before yet a rainy start to next week as a frontal system arrives Monday and Tuesday, weather officials said.

The downpour in Georgia comes just hours after storms battered parts of Tennessee. The Weather Channel reported a tornado tore through Columbia, outside of Nashville.

Video showed homes reduced to rubble, and several first responders at the scene. The Weather Channel reported at least one person died in the incident.

The Tennessean reported multiple injuries due to the storms, and said tornadoes went through Robertson and Maury counties.

The storm damage caused delays or closures at middle Tennessee schools, WKRN reported.

Here's the latest Atlanta area weather forecast from the National Weather Service:

Thursday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between noon and 2pm. High near 81. Southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 10am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 54. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 79.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.

Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 77.