VALDOSTA — Forecasters say South Georgia can look forward to a week of sunny weather — with one cloud on the horizon.

A high-pressure system is keeping the skies over the region clear this week, said Frank Strait, senior meteorologist for the private forecasting firm AccuWeather.

Along with the clear skies come mild temperatures. Strait said Valdosta’s normal average daytime high for this time of year is 83; with actual highs forecast to run from 77 to 80 degrees this week, highs will be slightly below average for much of the week.

Then Wednesday comes along. A big dip in the jet stream, combined with moisture and atmospheric instability, will help set up another round of heavy thunderstorms coming through the region, said Mark Wool, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.

A cold front moving through South Georgia Wednesday night will bring a “marginal” chance of severe weather, he said.

“It’s another in a long series” of storm events, Wool said. “We’re getting March weather in April.”

The main threat to South Georgia Wednesday night will be damaging winds and hail, Strait said.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of a couple of isolated tornadoes,” he said. 

During the severe weather burst last week, a tornado touched down near Moultrie and swept through Cook County. Ranked as an EF1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, it had wind speeds of 110 miles per hour, according to a weather service statement.

After a night of storms Wednesday, skies should clear again with a warming trend in place, the forecasters said. Valdosta should reach a daytime high in the low 90s by Sunday, Strait said. 

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.