Local

Rain possible for holiday weekend

The Georgia coast is under a tropical storm warning this Memorial Day weekend, as a cluster of thunderstorms that forecasters expect will become Tropical Storm Beryl strengthens in the Atlantic.

Beryl could dump heavy rain in the coastal counties of Georgia, and will bring a chance of rain to metro Atlanta by the end of the holiday weekend.

Until then, on Saturday metro Atlantans can expect afternoon highs climbing to within a degree or two of the 94-degree record set in 1936, Channel 2 meteorologist David Chandley said.

The tropical storm warning is in effect from Volusia County, Fla, to Edisto Beach, S.C., a nearly 300-mile swath of coastline that includes the entire Georgia coast.

The National Hurricane Center is predicting that Beryl will make landfall somewhere near the Georgia-Florida state line late Sunday night, then move back offshore early next week.

Higher than normal tides will be crashing against the Southeastern coast and may cause flooding. Heavy rain is forecast and dangerous surf was expected along the coasts of northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina over the holiday weekend.

Chandley's forecast for metro Atlanta for the remainder of the weekend calls for a mix of sun and clouds on Sunday, with a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm late in the day and highs in the upper 80s.

Memorial Day should be partly to mostly cloudy, with a 30 percent chance of storms and highs in the mid- to upper 80s.