VALDOSTA – South Georgia’s blistering heat should continue into next week, though the weekend will bring a brief respite, forecasters said.
A ridge of high pressure over the southwestern states and the Plains pushing eastward brought brutal heat to the South late last week, with heat warnings issued for much of South Georgia Thursday and Friday. Temperatures reached the upper 90s; Factoring in the humidity, heat indices — “what it feels like” — reached as high as 114 degrees for Valdosta on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service and local authorities issued reminders to the public to drink enough water to stay hydrated, take frequent breaks and stay indoors in air-conditioned buildings. No heat-related deaths had been reported in Lowndes County as of Friday, Lowndes County Coroner Austin Fiveash said.
Temperatures dropped slightly over the weekend as thunderstorm activity increased in the region; Highs in Valdosta dropped from 99 degrees Friday to highs in the 80s earlier in the week, according to the weather service forecast.
In Tifton, a high around 97 on Friday was expected to give way to a high of 88 on Sunday as the storm chances increased; the following week, highs in Tifton were expected to climb into the mid-90s, according to the weather service.
The average temperature for the city of Azalea this time of year is 92, with an overnight low of 70, said Bill Deger, senior meteorologist at the private forecasting firm AccuWeather.
“It’s the typical summer forecast,” he said of the high chance of rain over the weekend. The storms will be caused by a frontal boundary that is expected to stall over South Georgia this weekend, Deger said.
Once the storms clear, temperatures will climb back up, into the upper 90s by the end of the week, he said.
The temperatures, while unusually high, are not record highs, said Don van Dyke, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Tallahassee, Florida.
“Most of the daily high temperature records (for Valdosta) are above 100 degrees,” he said.
Valdosta’s all-time high temperature record was 107 degrees, set on July 1, 1911, according to extremeweatherwatch.com.
Both forecasters said there was a slight risk of severe weather over the weekend with thunderstorm activity. Van Dyke said gusty winds would be a concern with any storm, while Deger said flooding would be possible here and there.
Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.
