Rain is coming. Just how much remains to be seen.

The area could be in for a huge wetting if, as expected, remnants of Tropical Storm Fay arrive later in the week and then stall before moving north.

Robert Beasley, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s office in Peachtree City, said that while that’s good news for Lake Lanier, flooding could be a problem. "Anytime you get one of these tropical storms that stalls, it can produce repeated heavy rain over the same areas," Beasley said. "The last two runs of our more reliable computer model have been very consistent in showing this track."

The storm may not be a drought-buster, but it could go a long way in lifting water levels.

Lake Lanier is at 1,053.94 feet above sea level, with the normal full pool at 1,071 feet. Unless the dry weather pattern changes by Labor Day, the lake could drop to 1,052.8 feet, or just 2 feet above the historic low of 1,050.79 feet, recorded on Dec. 26.

Sunday night, the National Weather Service predicted that showers and thunderstorms could arrive today.

Storms could resume on Tuesday, producing heavy rainfall, a weather pattern that is expected to continue through Friday. Rain could begin to leave the area by Friday night, replaced by mostly cloudy skies.

Temperatures, meanwhile, are expected to drop into the low 80s later in the week, when the weather is supposed to get much wetter.