Rain, fog complicate trip back to Atlanta for holiday travelers

There was plenty of rainfall and fog in metro Atlanta on Sunday as residents returned during one of the holiday week’s busiest road travel days.

Drivers full from turkey should be wary on the wet roads, especially with the heaviest congestion period estimated between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

“Be extra careful getting out on the roadways, you might encounter some slippery spots,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Eboni Deon warned.

Atlantans might want to bundle up and keep an umbrella handy amid the wet and chilly weather. A cold front even produced some light freezing rain in higher-elevation areas of northeast Georgia early in the morning, but a significant accumulation of ice and snow was not expected, the National Weather Service said.

Light rain can sometimes be followed by fog, which was the case in parts of metro Atlanta on Sunday. At about 4 p.m., the airport and areas within Gwinnett County had about 2 miles of visibility, while Cherokee County had about 3 miles, the NWS said. Perfect conditions typically have about 10 miles of visibility and anything less is deemed concerning by the NWS.

Reported cancellations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remained low amid the rainy weather, though 24% of departures and 21% of arrivals were delayed as of 4 p.m., according to flightaware.com.

There was a high of 50 degrees on Sunday afternoon before temperatures were expected to drop again overnight. Deon said Monday morning will start out dry and cloudy until a push of moisture produces additional rainfall in the afternoon.