Numerous to widespread thunderstorms capable of producing damaging wind gusts, large hail, frequent lightning, localized flash flooding, and dangerous heat are expected across much of north and central Georgia today and tonight, according to the National Weather Service. A Heat Advisory is also in effect for portions of east central Georgia from noon until 8 p.m., with heat index values up to 106 degrees expected.

The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for north and central Georgia for Sunday, July 12, 2026.

Bonus for the more weather-curious among you … To read an article about interpreting a weather news report with some of the typical terminology defined,  follow this link.

What is in the Hazardous Weather Outlook?

The hazardous weather outlook states the following:

558 AM EDT Sun Jul 12 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north and central Georgia.

.DAY ONE…Today and Tonight…

A few thunderstorms will remain possible through the morning,
capable of producing lightning and brief heavy rainfall.

Numerous to widespread thunderstorms are likely this afternoon and
evening. Some storms may become strong to severe and capable of
producing gusty to damaging winds, frequent lightning, large hail,
and localized flash flooding concerns.

A Heat Advisory is in effect for portions of east central Georgia
from noon to 8PM. Heat index values up to 106 are expected.

Advertisement

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…Monday through Saturday…

Numerous to widespread thunderstorms are likely on Monday and
Tuesday. Some storms may become strong to severe and capable of
producing gusty to damaging winds, frequent lightning, and
locally heavy rainfall.

Scattered afternoon thunderstorms are likely each day through
Saturday.

Counties included in the alert

• Baldwin
• Banks
• Barrow
• Bartow
• Bibb
• Bleckley
• Butts
• Carroll
• Catoosa
• Chattahoochee
• Chattooga
• Cherokee
• Clarke
• Clayton
• Cobb
• Coweta
• Crawford
• Crisp
• Dade
• Dawson
• DeKalb
• Dodge
• Dooly
• Douglas
• Emanuel
• Fannin
• Fayette
• Floyd
• Forsyth
• Gilmer
• Glascock
• Gordon
• Greene
• Gwinnett
• Hall
• Hancock
• Haralson
• Harris
• Heard
• Henry
• Houston
• Jackson
• Jasper
• Jefferson
• Johnson
• Jones
• Lamar
• Laurens
• Lumpkin
• Macon
• Madison
• Marion
• Meriwether
• Monroe
• Montgomery
• Morgan
• Murray
• Muscogee
• Newton
• North Fulton
• Oconee
• Oglethorpe
• Paulding
• Peach
• Pickens
• Pike
• Polk
• Pulaski
• Putnam
• Rockdale
• Schley
• South Fulton
• Spalding
• Stewart
• Sumter
• Talbot
• Taliaferro
• Taylor
• Telfair
• Toombs
• Towns
• Treutlen
• Troup
• Twiggs
• Union
• Upson
• Walker
• Walton
• Warren
• Washington
• Webster
• Wheeler
• White
• Whitfield
• Wilcox
• Wilkes
• Wilkinson

What is meant by “isolated” and “scattered”?

The NWS defines “isolated” as follows:

A National Weather Service convective precipitation descriptor for a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch). Isolated is used interchangeably with few.

“Scattered” has the following definition:

When used to describe precipitation (for example: “scattered showers”) – Area coverage of convective weather affecting 30 percent to 50 percent of a forecast zone(s).

Isolated thunderstorms and scattered thunderstorms are two terms used to describe different distributions of thunderstorm activity within a particular area. The main difference lies in the extent of coverage and how the thunderstorms are spatially distributed:

1. Isolated Thunderstorms:

• Isolated thunderstorms are relatively rare occurrences that happen sporadically and are generally confined to a limited area.
• These thunderstorms are often characterized by being few and far between, with significant gaps between individual storm cells.
• Typically, isolated thunderstorms cover less than 20% of the forecast area.
• Despite their isolated nature, these storms can still be intense and may produce heavy rain, lightning, gusty winds, and possibly hail.

2. Scattered Thunderstorms:

• Scattered thunderstorms are more widespread than isolated thunderstorms and cover a larger portion of the forecast area.
• In a scattered thunderstorm scenario, numerous individual thunderstorms develop, but they are not continuous or widespread enough to be classified as a “line” or “cluster” of storms.
• Scattered thunderstorms generally cover between 30% to 50% of the forecast area.
• Although scattered thunderstorms are more widespread, they still leave considerable gaps between storm cells, and not everyone within the forecast area will necessarily experience a thunderstorm.

In summary, isolated thunderstorms are fewer in number and more localized, covering a smaller area with significant gaps between storms, while scattered thunderstorms are more widespread, covering a larger area with numerous individual storms occurring somewhat randomly across the forecast area.

About the National Weather Service

The National Weather Service (NWS) is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The NWS describes its role as follows:

The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, water, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.

These services include Forecasts and Observations, Warnings, Impact-based Decision Support Services, and Education in an effort to build a Weather-Ready Nation. The ultimate goal is to have a society that is prepared for and responds to weather, water and climate events.

ATHENS, Ga. – Three University of Georgia baseball stars were selected on the first day of the MLB Draft on Saturday, capping off a historic season for the baseball program.

Major League Baseball selections

What we know:

Bulldog catcher Daniel Jackson, pitcher Joey Volchko and outfielder Rylan Lujo were all chosen during the first four rounds of the draft in Philadelphia. 

Jackson was selected 37th overall in the first round by the Colorado Rockies. 

The Chicago White Sox drafted Volchko in the third round with the 77th pick, and the Los Angeles Angels took Lujo in the fourth round with the 109th pick.

Jackson, a Sandy Springs native, swept every major award this past season, including the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy. He hit .379 with 32 home runs and 87 RBI. 

Volchko served as the team’s pitching ace, going 11-2 with 119 strikeouts, while Lujo started 52 games in centerfield and hit .358. 

The draft choices follow a school-record 53-win season where Georgia captured the SEC regular season and tournament titles before finishing third at the College World Series.

Draft rounds and rules

The draft featured four rounds and 135 total picks on Saturday. Major league teams have until 5 p.m. July 27 to sign players drafted out of high schools and four-year colleges. Georgia has now had at least one player selected in the draft every year since 1987.

What we don’t know:

Officials have not yet confirmed the financial details of the minor league contracts or signing bonuses for the three drafted players. It is also unknown if any additional Georgia players will be selected during the later rounds of the draft.

What’s next:

The draft will conclude Sunday with rounds 5 through 20.

It’s hard to have a better start to the decade than the Georgia Bulldogs have during the 2020s.

They’ve finished ranked inside the top seven of the final AP Poll in each season of the 2020s. Georgia has appeared in four of the six College Football Playoffs in this current decade and the Bulldogs are the only team in the sport to have won multiple national championships since the start of the 2020 season.

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports stated that as it stands right now, the Bulldogs are in fact the team of the 2020s.

“From the start of the 2021 season through the end of 2023, Georgia went 42-2 with two national championship game wins and the only defeats coming to Nick Saban and Alabama in SEC Championship Game appearances,” Patterson wrote. “And while the winning percentage has dipped a bit in the last two seasons (23-5), those years have each included SEC Championship Game wins. Kirby Smart helped build the juggernaut of the 2010s with Saban, and as we stare down the final four years of the 2020s, he’s currently driving the frontrunner to be the team of the decade.”

Patterson notes that Ohio State is nipping on the heels of the Bulldogs, despite Georgia having a 3-1 edge in terms of conference championships.

Georgia is the only team with multiple national championships in this current decade, but Ohio State, Indiana and Alabama all seem like possible threats to get a second.

Oregon, Texas, Miami and Notre Dame appear to be annual threats to win a national championship. Especially in a world with an expanded College Football Playoff.

We’re past the halfway point when it comes to this decade, yet there are still four seasons left for one team to stake its claim as the dominant program of the decade. While the Bulldogs have gotten out to an early lead, there is still time for someone else to catch them.

So what do the Bulldogs have to do to ensure they remain in position to be the team of the decade?

The simplest answer is to grab another national championship. Alabama won four during the 2010s, with Smart serving as the defensive coordinator for three of them. Nebraska won three in the 1990s, while Miami did the same in the 1980s.

To get a third national title though Georgia will need more breaks than it got in 2021 or 2022. Those titles came in an era where there were just four teams in the College Football Playoff. Georgia also played just eight SEC games in those seasons. Going forward, the Bulldogs, and every other SEC team, will play nine conference games each season.

There’s also the other notable change that comes because of changes to NIL rules and the transfer portal. While NIL was legal during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, it’s a totally different beast now in terms of the way it impacts team building.

As for the transfer portal, we’ve already seen how Georgia has had to prioritize retention with its current roster. While Georgia brought in only nine players via the transfer portal, it also only lost 12 members from last season’s team. Both of those marks are the fewest in the SEC.

While Georgia has a plan when it comes to working the transfer portal, one of the questions that will ultimately define how the Bulldogs finish out the decade comes in the form of talent acquisition.

The Bulldogs signed a top 5 high school recruiting class in every recruiting cycle from 2020 through 2025 using the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Georgia’s 2020 and 2024 recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 in the country. But the 2026 recruiting cycle ranked sixth. The current 2027 class sits at No. 13, with only a small handful of targets remaining uncommitted.

Potential changes to the way the sport is governed are possible, but who knows what further consequences potential government intervention will have on the sport.

For as much as has changed in the sport from when the decade began, Georgia has been able to find stability in a way not every contender has in recent years. Consider that this year will be the fourth straight that Glenn Schumann and Mike Bobo have served as the offensive and defensive coordinators at Georgia.

Georgia’s staying power is a big reason why some view Smart as one of the top coaches in the sport.

“The argument for Smart is his program remains the gold standard for elite, sustained success even as the expanded CFP, the portal and NIL have in many ways made his job tougher,” ESPN’s Max Olson said. “He has maintained an incredibly high standard at Georgia with no bad years, finishing in the top seven of the AP poll in nine consecutive seasons, with eight trips to the SEC title game.”

If the Bulldogs continue to find themselves in the College Football Playoff, eventually the breaks will go their way. In 2022, Ohio State’s Noah Ruggles missed a 50-yard field goal attempt as time expired. Last season, Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro made a 47-yard field goal in the final moments of the College Football Playoff.

Smart has always built Georgia to sustain. It’s a big reason why to this point in the decade, the Bulldogs are viewed as the team of the decade.

To ensure that title sticks throughout the rest of the decade, the Bulldogs are going to need to continue to accumulate talent at an elite level. That aspect will almost certainly look different compared to the beginning of the decade.

Ultimately, national championships will go a long way in shaping which team ends the decade as the defining team. Ohio State likely isn’t going anywhere, while Texas and others seem committed to spending whatever it takes to stay atop the sport.

Georgia is the only SEC team to make the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons. Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State are the only other teams to make it in both seasons.

No team has yet won a College Football Playoff game in multiple 12-team formats. Perhaps that speaks to how difficult it will be to maintain success on an annual basis.

This demonstrates just how much more difficult the task ahead is for the Georgia Bulldogs.