None near Piedmont Park as of 1:30pm.

Short Term (Today through Monday):

• Today:
  • Lingering Showers 🌧️ across the south will fade away, but things are about to get COLD.
  • Highs will range from the upper 30s to lower 60s, but by this afternoon, you’ll be shivering as temps drop rapidly 🥶.
  • Snow flurries? Yup! But don’t get too excited – it’s all show, no snow accumulation. Higher peaks might even get a dusting! 🏔️
• Tonight:
  • Arctic blast incoming! 🧊 A Siberian chill is headed our way like an uninvited guest to a barbecue.
  • Temps tumble into single digits and lower 20s – expect brutal wind chills (feels like zero in metro Atlanta, below zero up north). ❄️
  • Extreme Cold Warning: Don’t forget your thermals if you live north of Atlanta! 🧣
  • Cold Weather Advisory for everyone else, so don’t leave the house without a jacket, like, EVER. 🧥
  • Monday Highs: Teens up north, low 40s elsewhere. Yikes! 🥶
  • Pro Tip: 🛁 Leave your faucets dripping and under-sink cabinets open so your pipes don’t get cold feet (literally).

Long Term - Cold Conditions! (Brace Yourselves, It’s REALLY Cold):

• Monday Night & Tuesday Morning:
  • The Arctic air is sticking around like that one person at the party who won’t leave.
  • Teens up north, low 20s south – perfect weather for frostbite if you’re not careful! 🥶
  • Wind chills will range from 5-10°F in the north, and 10-20°F elsewhere. Higher elevations could see 0-5°F wind chills – brrr. 😱
• Tuesday & Wednesday: Winter Weather Potential including Snowflakes, Sleet, and Chaos! ❄️

  • Highs in the low 30s up north, and upper 30s/low 40s further south.

  • 48+ hours of below freezing temps – time to protect your pipes and frostbite your face! 🥶

  • Winter Storm Watch 🧯: From 10 AM Tuesday to 7 AM Wednesday, buckle up!

  • Low pressure swoops in, bringing moisture to meet the Arctic cold. Guess what? Snow is likely! 🌨️ (Sleet and freezing rain? Ehh, maybe a little.)

  • Precip starts Tuesday afternoon – and by Tuesday night, expect snow. 🌨️

  • Snowfall Forecast:

    • Central GA: 1.5 to 2.5 inches, with Columbus getting the most.
    • Atlanta: 50% chance of 1 inch, 40% chance of 2 inches. (Fingers crossed!)
    • South GA: Not so much snow, but maybe some sleet (the least fun winter weather).

  • Traveling? Expect slick roads that won’t forgive even the smallest snowflakes.

Late Week Outlook (Freezing But With Hopeful Melting):

• Wednesday & Thursday:
  • Arctic high weakens, but it’ll still be cold enough to make your teeth chatter.
  • Lows in the teens and 20s, and highs struggle to get above freezing.
  • Snow and ice will hang around because they’re like the last guest at the party who’s not leaving.
• Freezing Rain Alert: Thursday/Friday could bring a little freezing rain to the east-central part of the state. It’s gonna be messy. 🌧️
• Weekend Forecast:
  • Friday: Temps rise to the low 40s.
  • Saturday: Warming up to near 50°F! Time to break out the sunglasses and thaw out those frozen toes. 😎

Today: Calm Before the Storm 🌞❄️

•Morning:

•Temperatures range from upper 20s to mid-30s, so bundle up!

•Patchy frost possible—because why not let your car impersonate a popsicle?

•Afternoon:

•Highs in the mid to upper 50s for north Georgia and low 60s for central Georgia.

•Enjoy the benign weather brought to you by a friendly upper ridge—more chill than a polar bear in a hammock.

Tonight: Calm Turns into Showers 🌙☔

•What’s Happening?

•The ridge moves east, making way for a trough and a cold front from the Midwest.

•A surface low develops along the cold front and stomps toward Georgia overnight like it forgot its umbrella.

•Northwest Georgia:

•Showers creep in after midnight, spreading southeast by morning.

Saturday: Rain Boots and Maybe Snowflakes 🌧️❄️

•Morning:

•Temperatures: Mid-40s across most areas; mid-30s in the highest elevations of northeast Georgia.

•Rain/Snow Mix: A light mix of rain and snow possible in the northeast, but don’t expect a winter wonderland—accumulations will be minimal before transitioning to rain by mid-morning.

•Afternoon:

•Showers become scattered, with rainfall totals between 0.5 and 0.75 inches.

•Thunderstorms? Unlikely, but southern counties might hear a faint rumble or two.

Flooding Concerns?

•Nope! Even a hippopotamus splashing in a puddle wouldn’t stir trouble with these rainfall amounts.

TL;DR:

•Today: Chilly start, pleasant afternoon.

•Tonight: Showers move in.

•Saturday: Rain dominates, with a dash of snow possible in the northeast.

After breaking the nearly three year snow drought across the ATL Metro yesterday, a signal for more snow or ice is possible, Jan 20-23rd! Long range ensemble guidance run-to-run have been consistently hinting at possibly a series of waves or disturbances traversing across the southern U.S around the 20th and beyond. This is still very uncertain and low probability as this point given how far out we are. The MJO is currently in the cold phases (1 and 2) for this timeframe which supports east coast cold. During this timeframe the baroclinic zone, or the warm to cold temperature gradient is set up along the east coast and over the southeast. This zone would be favorable for low pressure systems and above average precipitation to occur within. Now several things have to go right that we just don't have the answers to at this projected range. One, can we get phasing troughs along the gulf coast? Two, can we get a strong high to the north that provides the reinforcing cold air for snow or ice? Three, will the low track be favorable for an all snow event? All of these factors and more will need to be watched and considered moving forward. In addition to the snow, one thing for certain is the rest of this month looks to remain well below average temperature wise. Many nights in the teens and high in the 30s and 40s. There will be a brief warm up around Jan 17-19th but other than that, its looking cold for the foreseeable future!

GFS Ensemble Mean 96-hr snowfall valid: Jan 18th to Jan 22nd

Euro Ensemble Mean 96-hr Snowfall valid: Jan 19th to Jan 23rd

Euro Ensemble Mean 5 Day Precipitation Anomaly valid: Jan 18th to Jan 22nd

Euro Ensemble Mean 5 Day Temperature Anomaly valid: Jan 20th to Jan 25th

Today and Sunday: The “Nope” Outdoors Edition 🌬️🧊

•Saturday:

•Morning Flurries: The snowstorm may have clocked out, but leftover ice will be working overtime tonight with lows around 30°F. If you’re thinking of skating down the driveway, now’s your moment.

•Winds: NW gusts up to 25 mph, perfect for blowing tree limbs onto power lines like nature’s version of Jenga. 🌬️

•Highs: Mid-30s, which might sort of help melt ice but not enough to save your commute.

•Saturday Night:

•Overnight Lows: Teens. Yes, you read that right—teens. Add wind chills, and it’s like Mother Nature said, “Let’s spice things up with frostbite!” 🥶

•Sunday:

•Dry and Slightly Less Miserable: Winds calm a bit, and highs claw their way into the mid-40s to low-50s. You might actually see the sun! Don’t get too comfortable—it’s just a trick.

Sunday Night to Monday: The Freezing Rain Tease 🌧️❄️

•Rain Showers: A weak system will roll through, bringing rain mainly to central Georgia. Northern Georgia might just be watching from the bleachers, rain chances only 10-30%. 🌧️

•Rain Totals: 0.01 to 0.25 inches. It’s basically just enough to make your windshield dirty.

•Freezing Rain Risk:

•Less than 20% chance, but if it happens, expect trace amounts—just enough to turn every sidewalk into an Olympic curling rink.

Tuesday to Thursday: Freezer Burn Mode 🥶🧥

•Cold and Dry: Canadian high-pressure is moving in, because Georgia hasn’t suffered enough.

•Highs: 6-15°F below average, aka “Why did I ever complain about summer?”

•Wind Chills: In the teens at sunrise. Pro tip: Wear every jacket you own.

Friday Through Next Monday: Rainpocalypse Now? ☔🌊

•Rain Returns: A slow-moving trough will bring rain next weekend, potentially dumping 2+ inches in 24 hours. But don’t worry—by then, your driveway will be so cold, it’ll just freeze.

TL;DR:

•Today: Ice skates required.

•Sunday: Slightly less like the Arctic.

•Monday: Freezing rain? Maybe.

•Next week: Cold. So cold.

•Next weekend: Rain! Lots of rain! Bring an ark.

What area in the Atlanta Metro Area are you located?

How much snow is currently falling?

How much has fallen so far?

Winter Storm Forecast (Today through Next Wednesday):

Attention, weather nerds and storm chasers! Georgia is about to get walloped with some serious wintry mischief. Here’s your quick and quirky survival guide to what’s coming:

Key Alerts:

• Winter Storm Warning: Covers all of north Georgia, Athens, the Atlanta metro, and areas along and south of I-20. Begins at 7 a.m. Friday and runs until 7 a.m. Saturday. 🚨
• Winter Weather Advisory: Includes areas north of Columbus to Macon to Augusta. Effective 7 a.m. Friday until 3 p.m. Friday.

North Georgia Mountains (Snow-Lover’s Paradise) 🌨️

• Snow: 1-3 inches at the start. Perfect for snowball fights, but it won’t last—expect sleet and freezing rain to crash the party.
• Freezing Rain: 0.1” to 0.2” on top of the snow. Roads will turn into ice rinks. Avoid driving unless you enjoy vehicular figure skating.
• Impact: Treacherous roads, falling tree branches, and potential power outages. This snow is wetter and heavier than normal, so don’t strain your back shoveling!

Atlanta Metro, Athens, and the Piedmont (Mixed Bag of Trouble) 🌧️❄️

• Snow/Sleet: 1-2 inches Friday morning. Enough to make morning commutes a nightmare—stay home if you can!
• Freezing Rain: Up to 0.33 inches in the afternoon and evening. This could cause significant ice build-up, snapping powerlines, and trees.
• Switch to Rain? There’s a slim chance it warms up enough for a switch to plain rain in the evening. If not, we’re looking at widespread ice impacts.
• Impact: Travel will be dicey, and tree limbs might come crashing down. Power outages are a real possibility.

Central Georgia (The Ice Lottery) ❄️➡️💦

• Morning Mix: A burst of snow, sleet, and freezing rain before quickly switching to rain.
• Impact: Minimal, but a light glaze of ice could still cause slippery spots during the morning rush.

Behind the Scenes: What’s Causing This Chaos?

1. Cold Air Party Crasher: A blast of Arctic air teamed up with a subtropical wave to set the stage. 🌀
2. Warm Nose Drama: As moisture rolls in, warm air aloft (850-700mb) will start melting snowflakes into sleet or freezing rain. (FYI, the “warm nose” is just a warm layer in the atmosphere, not Rudolph’s!)
3. Surface Temps Fight Back: Dry air and “wet-bulbing” (when evaporation cools the air) will help keep surface temps below freezing longer, preserving our icy mischief.

Weekend Outlook:

• As the storm exits, temps will drop like a mic into the teens and 20s Saturday night. Anything left on the roads will freeze solid, so travel cautiously—or better yet, not at all. ❄️
• Gusty winds (20-30 mph) Saturday could worsen ice damage, especially if trees and powerlines are still coated.
• Another weak wave passes Saturday night, but it’s expected to stay dry.

Heads Up Next Week:

• Highs: 30s-40s in north GA; 40s-60s in central GA.
• A cold front could swing through midweek, but no precipitation is expected—just more chill vibes. 🥶

Stay safe out there, Georgia! If you must brave the storm, pack an emergency kit and channel your inner penguin for icy travel conditions. Waddle on! 🐧

Will it be safe to go to Birmingham Saturday morning?

https://preview.redd.it/1c1zsqa0z0ce1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=883c26635f6bcc85bfe77c8026b7abf003a887a2

This graphic is very useful and really symbolizes how tricky these borderline wintry precipitation events are. Models have a historically hard time handling the strength of the "Wedge" of Cold Air Damming that accompanies these ice storm scenarios. At the same time the mesoscale high res models tend to underdo the amount of warming aloft. Given these two factors combined, this scenario makes it easier for us forecasters to assume the models may not be seeing the correct thermal profiles in the atmosphere that suggest a full blown ice storm. Hence the "overperformance" circle you see in the graphic for our area. My personal opinion on this storm regarding the ATL metro is we get a 2-5 hr window of snow/sleet from roughly 9am-1pm (ending late morning for the south metro) before switching to sleet/freezing rain then all freezing rain after 3pm. There could be some brief periods of cold rain or all cold rain especially south of I-20. As for snow and ice amounts I agree with NWS overall but my thinking is low end for south of I-20 is a dusting to 0.5" and north of I-20 and especially north of 285, the low end is 0.5" with high end being around 2".

https://preview.redd.it/4uxgsl7yyrbe1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=44824e71b57e7beb47b9cbcfc2bce637afd55c28

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY
MORNING...

* WHAT...A wintry mix of precipitation is possible. Snow and sleet
  accumulations in the mountains could average between three to six
  inches with locally higher amounts possible. Further south to the
  Interstate 20 corridor, a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain
  and rain is likely. Snow accumulations of two to four inches is
  possible with icing amounts around a tenth of an inch possible.


* WHERE...Portions of north central, northeast, northwest, and west
  central Georgia.

* WHEN...From Friday morning through Saturday morning.

* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions, with travel likely
  becoming difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the
  Friday commute and linger into Saturday morning. Bridges and
  overpasses could become icy even if temperatures remain slightly
  above freezing.

https://preview.redd.it/381rpmw80rbe1.png?width=1042&format=png&auto=webp&s=d89d975e56bebce0194ee4942e1f734a0fb6ce0d

I have an international flight out of Atlanta on Friday at 7 pm, right when the snow storm is supposed to be very bad! I’m thinking about heading to the airport early so the roads aren’t unsafe on the way to the airport, but my concern is that if the flight gets cancelled, I’ll be stuck at the airport likely overnight since the roads will be bad. And getting my checked bags back will be a pain, I imagine. The airline hasn’t issued any cancellations or provided any information yet. Any thoughts on what the best strategy is here? Is rebooking for sometime next week the best option?

I'd be shocked if this map doesn't get updated at least one or two more times between tonight and Thursday afternoon!

https://preview.redd.it/k60auyrxfnbe1.png?width=1042&format=png&auto=webp&s=906c78842778be513835cbbd7ced85ed9a91f9bc

Let's be honest, it's the whole point of this sub.

https://preview.redd.it/i3uk4u3zd7ae1.png?width=4583&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ab4be3e16396c530d25b68275657071ed23f276

I am keeping a close eye on the overall temp and precip trends for January. Week 1 will see some ups and downs with the temps with a storm system passing to our north most likely, which would favor all rain for precip type. However, Jan 7th through the 15th could be very cold and maybe icy/snowy (still too far out for details) but I believe this timeframe will be our best shot of winter precip since January of 2022. Again not saying it will snow but a cold shot this prolonged like we are seeing in the long range guidance suggests somewhere in the area will see flakes next month.

https://preview.redd.it/t1vn6vbc6rzd1.png?width=1040&format=png&auto=webp&s=f90d11d738bfe2c0605a95ae714c3c87ac120801

Wondering how much rain Atlanta got. I'm reading that it was a record amount but not seeing the total. Thanks!

🌪️ Short Term Forecast: Buckle up, folks—Hurricane Helene is about to throw a temper tantrum, and she’s not holding back! Here’s what you need to know, with a little humor to ease the pain.

🌧️ Today through Friday:

Issued at 3:26 AM EDT on Thursday, Sep 26, 2024—because apparently, storms don’t sleep. The forecast will be dominated by Hurricane Helene, who’s charging into the Gulf of Mexico like she owns the place. She’s headed north, aiming to crash the Florida Big Bend coast party this evening. After that, she’ll boogie through the state overnight and saunter into the Tennessee Valley on Friday. Don’t expect her to lose steam too quickly—her rapid northward sprint means damaging wind gusts could hit pretty far inland.

🌧️ Rainfall

Remember that little PRE (Predecessor Rain Event) we had yesterday? Yeah, that was just the appetizer. The ground is soaked, and Helene’s about to dump the main course. 🌧️ Along the I-85 corridor, rainfall yesterday ranged from 2 to 4 inches, with some overachievers hitting 5 inches. Today, expect more heavy rain along this corridor, with amounts between 3 and 5 inches—and yes, some areas will be looking at even more.

As Helene moves her party north overnight into early Friday, the heaviest rain will shift to the northeast portion of the area. Expect another 2 to 4 inches, with higher amounts in the mountainous areas of Northeast Georgia (those hills are thirsty!). By Friday, Helene will start to wander off to the northwest, and the rain will finally begin to taper off, but areas north of I-20 can still expect another 0.25 to 1 inch of rain. 💧

Total storm rainfall from today through Friday: 3 to 6 inches, with up to 8 inches possible in the really soggy spots. Grab those rain boots, you’ll need ‘em. 🥾

💨 Winds

Helene’s not just bringing the rain—she’s got wind power to spare. Expect her to be stronger than your average inland storm because she’s in a hurry. The strongest winds will whip up this evening through Friday, especially in areas south of I-20 later today and north of I-20 overnight into early Friday.

⚠️ Wind gusts: 70 to 80 mph are expected, even deep inland into northern Georgia. That’s the kind of wind that makes you think twice about having a roof over your head. Hold onto your hats, and maybe your entire house. 🎩🏡

🌪️ Tornadoes

Oh, and just to spice things up, there’s a chance for tropical tornadoes too! The prime candidates for a spin are areas along and east of a line from Helen to Peachtree City to Columbus. The tornado potential will start ramping up across the southeastern parts of the state later today and spread northward overnight. If you hear a freight train sound and you’re not near any tracks, you might want to duck and cover. 🚂

Stay safe, stay dry, and remember: Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor.