Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Dawsonville, GA

SHORT TERM
(This afternoon through Wednesday)
Issued at 200 PM EDT Tue Aug 18 2026

The ridge influencing our hot and humid conditions has begun to shift westward and has allowed drier air to work into our CWA along the periphery of a broad trough oriented into the Midwest region.
This should provide us with a brief reprieve from the overly humid August conditions we've experienced so far this month. Dew point temperatures have already begun to fall into the upper 60s over North Georgia behind a surface front moving through the ATL metro area and will continue to work into our CWA through the day. That being said, a Heat Advisory has been issued for today for our central to southern counties through the early evening hours. For Wednesday, our CWA can look forward to a slightly more comfortable morning with temperatures starting in the mid 60s in northeast Georgia to mid 70s for our southern areas. Afternoon highs will climb back into the low to mid 90s for most locations, but a Heat Advisory will not be warranted for Wednesday thanks to the drier conditions. Precipitation chances will be close to null through Wednesday as our pattern briefly dries out before rain chances tick back up later in the week.

LONG TERM
(Thursday morning through next Monday)
Issued at 200 PM EDT Tue Aug 18 2026

The main story for the long term period will be oppressive heat for parts of the area, primarily on Thursday and Friday. At this time, heat index values are generally expected to range from 100 to 107, so additional Heat Advisories may be needed for parts of the area both days. Actual air temperatures will range from the mid-90s to around 100 degrees, so conditions will be downright oppressive and even hazardous for vulnerable groups (those without air conditioning, outdoor workers, babies, the elderly, and those with certain medical conditions).

Area-wide PoPs return on Friday as an amplifying ridge over the West forces expansive troughing over the East. Surface-based instability should be bountiful (it is summer in the Southeast, after all) so barring significant capping, at least isolated to scattered convection should occur across the area. Strong mid-/upper-level flow associated with the trough looks to support deep-layer shear perhaps as far south as north Georgia. Some of the longer-range CAMs (available on the NSSL website) depict a few clusters of storms developing across the Southeast on Thursday and Friday, although their placement and evolution vary widely as predictability is very low. For what it's worth, NCAR medium-range AI NWP convective hazard forecasts and ML products have signals of severe potential. Thus, it will be wise to monitor trends in severe weather parameters with subsequent model runs, as upscale growth in convection could bring severe weather potential to north and central Georgia.

NBM guidance suggests a front (largely a moisture gradient) pushing through Saturday into Sunday. This feature is currently expected to lower PoPs markedly Sunday and Monday. While heat index values will decrease both days, high temperatures are likely to remain in the 90s for much of the area.



AVIATION
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 133 PM EDT Tue Aug 18 2026

VFR to Low-VFR will prevail. Winds will remain out of the NW around 5-8kts with some low end gusts up to 20kts in the afternoon, becoming less than 6kts overnight. No other vsby, wx,or cig concerns through the period.

//ATL Confidence
18Z Update
High Confidence on all elements.

82

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS
Athens 71 96 72 99 / 0 0 0 10 Atlanta 72 95 75 98 / 0 0 0 10 Blairsville 63 88 68 90 / 0 0 0 10 Cartersville 68 95 71 97 / 0 0 0 10 Columbus 74 96 74 98 / 0 0 0 10 Gainesville 70 95 73 97 / 0 0 0 10 Macon 73 96 73 99 / 0 0 0 10 Rome 68 95 70 95 / 0 0 10 10 Peachtree City 70 95 71 97 / 0 0 0 10 Vidalia 75 99 75 102 / 0 0 10 10

FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
Heat Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for GAZ072>074-076- 080>086-089>098-102>113.