24th annual Battle of Tunnel Hill to be held

TUNNEL HILL, Ga. — The 24th annual Battle of Tunnel HIll will be held Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 10. Gates open at 9 a.m. The battle re-enactments are at 2 p.m. Attendees are asked to please arrive at least 15 to 30 minutes before the battle time. Admission is $10 for adults, with children 12 and under admitted free. Admission includes the battle and the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center and museum, the historic Western & Atlantic railroad tunnel and the Clisby Austin House. The location is near the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center at 215 Clisby Austin Road. From I-75, take exit 336 and go on Highway 41 North four-and-a-half miles, turn right on Oak Street in Tunnel Hill, or from I-75, take exit 339, go on Highway 41 South four miles and turn left on Oak Street.

 

Temperatures sliding a little 

VALDOSTA — Temperatures in South Georgia are expected to drop a bit later in the week as a cold front passes through, bringing a spike in thunderstorm chances, according to forecasters. The front should reach South Georgia by Wednesday, which is unusually southerly for a front at this time of year, said Frank Strait, senior meteorologist for the private forecasting firm AccuWeather.com. “Wednesday is the big day for rain,” said Justin Pullin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office. “It won’t be widespread, though; at most one or two inches in isolated spots, but more like an inch in general.” Rain chances of 20-30 percent early in the week spike to 50 percent on Wednesday, according to the weather service’s forecast. Cool air pulled in by the front should lower Valdosta’s daytime highs from around 90 early in the week to around 83 by Thursday, Strait said. “It’s a typical summery pattern,” Strait said. While neither forecaster expected widespread severe weather, Strait said isolated thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon could be severe with torrential rains. Both forecasters said that while its too early to tell where Hurricane Irma, a major storm in the mid-Atlantic, will wind up going ashore, South Georgians should keep abreast of weather forecasts and plan accordingly. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center predicted that Irma would still be a major hurricane — at least Category 3 with 111-129 mph winds — when it reaches the vicinity of the Bahamas Friday. After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether Irma heads toward some spot on the East Coast or turns back out to sea. Troughs over the South Georgia region could eventually play a role in determining where Irma winds up going ashore, Pullin said. “As a precaution, South Georgians should make sure they have non-perishable food, water and prescription medications so that they’re not scrambling to get these things later on,” Strait said. “That said, it’s too early to say that Valdosta, or anywhere in the U.S., is in for hurricane-force conditions.”