It might be prudent to have an umbrella handy Saturday for any outdoor Fourth of July celebrations, particularly those scheduled in the late afternoon and early evening.
There’s a 60 percent chance of thundershowers in the July 4 forecast. If the rain stays away or is minimal, the shade provided by an umbrella will help ease the impact of a heat index approaching 110 degrees, as a result of temperatures in the mid-90s and humidity above 60 percent.
After a mostly sunny morning Saturday, clouds are expected to increase early in the afternoon with the best chance of rain from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. In addition to the heat index, the sun’s impact also will be high with a UV index of 12, which is in the extreme range.
Saturday’s forecast is preceded by similar ones for today (Wednesday, July 1) through Friday (July 3).
are expected to be in the mid-90s during the day and fall only into the lowto mid-70s at night. Chance of rain is 20-40% each day, again mostly in the late afternoon and early evening.
The area spent most of last week under a flood alert for the Satilla River after some locations in the area received nearly a foot of rain June 19-22.
The alert was issued Monday evening, June 22 for Ware, Pierce and Brantley counties with a forecast for the Satilla River to rise above its 16foot flood stage Wednesday, June 24.
The river eventually rose to a level of 16.8 feet early Friday in Waycross causing minor flooding in low-lying areas near the river in all three counties.
The original forecast had a crest of 17.3 feet. After the 16.8 foot crest, the river was forecast to recede to around 14 feet early Tuesday, June 30.
Flood watches were issued when the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur brought heavy rain and high wind to the area June 19 and again over the weekend.
Nearly 11 inches of rain fell in Waycross from late morning Friday, June 19 through Monday evening, June 22 according to data from the website Weather Underground (Wunderground. com).
Of the weekend’s 9.7 inches of rain, 6.8 fell between 10:15 a.m. and 2 p.m., Friday. Total amount of rain for the 24hour period Friday was 8.2 inches.
Storms also hit June 20 and 21, but were shorter and less intense. A total of .7 inches fell for the 24hour period, June 20, but all of it came in one storm from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Rain June 21 led to a 24-hour total of .8 inches, but again, all of it fell in intermittent storms between 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. There were .9 inches of rain reported June 22, again most coming in the late afternoon-early evening window.
