Memorial Day cookouts and pool parties across Georgia might need a raincheck—or at least a sturdy umbrella—as thunderstorms gear up to crash the holiday with wind, hail, and enough rain to drown your potato salad.
🌩️ What We Know: Scattered storms will roll in this afternoon and linger overnight, packing strong wind gusts, small hail, and localized flooding. The National Weather Service warns some could turn severe, especially after sunset. The chaos doesn’t stop there: Tuesday through Friday will see daily rounds of thunderstorms, with gusty winds and lightning stealing the spotlight.
⚠️ Why It Matters: Memorial Day is supposed to mean grill smoke, not storm alerts. But with a “marginal risk” of severe weather Monday and Tuesday, residents should plan for delays, downed branches, and sudden downpours.
🔮 What’s Next: The storm parade continues all week, though Friday offers a glimmer of hope for drier skies. Forecasters aren’t yet betting on a rain-free weekend, so maybe hold off on washing the car.
☔ Take Action: Grill masters, you may want to take an umbrella with you when you grill those hotdogs and hamburgers. Or grill early and move that Memorial Day lunch up an hour.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
