WEATHER-TRAFFIC: Atlanta reaches 83 degrees as traffic remains heavy

ATLANTA FORECAST

Monday: High: 83

Monday night: Low: 66

Tuesday: High: 78

» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.

The cloud cover meant it took awhile to get there, but Atlanta reached its expected high of 83 degrees this afternoon, Channel 2 Action News reported. The average high for this date is 73.

At the same time, delays have continued to build during the evening commute.

Drivers are moving over for construction downtown on Peachtree and 26th streets, the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported. Roadwork blocks one northbound lane and is causing delays.

In DeKalb County, a gas leak has shut down all westbound lanes of Lavista Road near Winding Way in Tucker, officials said.

Thankfully, wrecks aren’t plentiful across metro Atlanta, but the Traffic Center shows notable delays on the Northern Perimeter and Downtown Connector.

North Georgia welcomed fall this past weekend, only to say goodbye again Monday.

“Summer is not ready to let go just yet,” Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “We got a little taste of fall the last few days. ... It’s going to feel like summertime this afternoon as temperatures get back into the 80s.”

This last-ditch effort at summer heat won’t last long. Two cold fronts are expected to move through this week, with the first arriving overnight Monday, Monahan said.

The front will bring in more clouds as it rolls through, increasing the rain chance from 20 percent Monday to 40 percent Tuesday. There was just a slight chance of showers Monday, Monahan said, mainly in the North Georgia mountains.

“The humidity, that number is going to come up a little bit over the next couple of days,” he said. “Our rain chance, that’s going to come up, too. Pretty low today but by tomorrow up to a 40 percent chance of showers for your Tuesday.”

Metro Atlanta should continue to see daily highs drop through the week and into the weekend, when a stronger cold front comes through.

“Here comes fall, a real shot of fall,” Monahan said. “How about 60s for highs? Mostly sunny and cooler for Sunday.”