Tropical Storm Nate to bring gusty wind, rain to parts of Georgia

ATLANTA — Hurricane Nate made landfall Saturday night as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. It weakened to a tropical storm early Sunday morning.

[THE LATEST: Tropical Storm Nate brings rain, wind to parts of Georgia]

How could this impact Georgia?

These counties are in a tropical storm warning: Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, and Walker

These counties are in a tropical storm watch: Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Heard, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Troup, and Whitfield.

Rain amounts in our area: 

Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said bands of showers will start moving into north Georgia Saturday night into Sunday morning, but will be fairly scattered.

[WATCH: Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan answers your questions]

Georgia's risk, though minimal early on, begins overnight Saturday. Through midday Sunday, Monahan said to expect light to moderate rain to increase across the area, with the heaviest rain moving in along and northwest of I-85, roughly 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.

"Nate will quickly move northeast of Georgia Monday morning, with diminishing local impacts," Monahan said.

Two to four inches of rain is expected in North Georgia.

Wind speeds in our area: 

Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are possible from the northwest suburbs of Atlanta into the north Georgia mountains.

"I expect power outages there, though not on the scale of Irma," Monahan said.

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From Atlanta south and east, we will have sustained winds of 15 to 30 mph, with some gusts into the 40 mph range.

Monahan said this should be enough to cause isolated to scattered power outages though, again, nothing like Irma.

There’s also a flash flood watch for the mountains Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, where residents should expect 2 to 3-inches of rain there.

From I-85 south and east, rainfall amounts will taper significantly, generally around 1 to 1.5-inches or less.

Severe Weather in our area: 

Isolated tornado risk begins Saturday evening and peaks Sunday afternoon and early evening, especially over west Georgia.

There is an isolated risk of severe storms in west Georgia.

Where is Hurricane Nate now?

States of emergency have been declared in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as government agencies mobilize its resources and declare mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders.

Nate made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River Saturday night, with Tropical Storm conditions spreading onshore in southeastern Louisiana.

Governors of all three states have issued stern warnings to residents ahead of the storm's expected landfall.

Severe Weather Team 2 is tracking the storm throughout the day on Channel 2 Action News. 

"No one should take this storm lightly. It has already claimed the lives of at least 20 people," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday, referring to Nate's tropical storm death storm in Central America earlier this week. "We do want people to be very, very cautious and to not take this storm for granted."

Gov. Bel -- who warned residents to prepared for heavy rainfall, storm surge and severe winds -- also mobilized 1,300 National Guard troops, 15 of whom will monitor New Orleans' pumping system. Since forecasters don't expect Nate to linger, but instead to pass through relatively quickly, officials expect the pumps to be able handle the water.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said 109 of its 120 pumps are functioning, which is 92 percent capacity.

"We are ready for whatever Nate brings our way," he told The Associated Press.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who issued an executive order authorizing the use of the state's National Guard, said at a briefing in Gulfport Friday, "If you are in an area that has flooded, I would recommend you evacuate that area until the storm has ended and the water has receded for your own personal safety and for the safety of the first responders that will be responding in the event you are trapped."

And Kay Ivey, Alabama's governor, said during a press conference Friday that the White House has promised its assistance adding, "It has become clear that Alabama, especially on our coast will experience some of the worst conditions from this storm ... Alabamans, you must prepare and be vigilant. This is serious business."

In Louisiana, some residents of coastal St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans were ordered to evacuate. And as early as Thursday, a voluntary evacuation had been called for Grand Isle, a barrier island town south of New Orleans. Some offshore oil platforms in the Gulf have also been evacuated, The AP reported.

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Mississippi prepared for possible evacuations, as well, announcing it would open 11 evacuation shelters away from the coastline. The state will provide buses for resident who are unable to drive.

Flooding was responsible for most of the deaths in Central America. As a tropical storm, Nate gained force as it sped past Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late Friday after drenching Central America in rain that was blamed for at least 21 deaths.

Early Saturday morning, the National Weather Service's Mobile, Alabama, office tweeted that Dauphin Island was already experiencing elevated water levels.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Nate could boost sea levels by 4 to 7 feet, from Morgan City, Louisiana -- located less than 90 miles southwest of New Orleans -- to the Alabama-Florida border.

Cox Media Group