Snow, ice, wind make for dangerous metro Atlanta weather Sunday

Wintry precipitation will continue throughout the day Sunday, as temperatures are not expected to leave the 30s.

The Georgia Department of Transportation planned to close toll lanes on I-75 northwest and south of Atlanta ahead of Saturday night’s winter storm.

GDOT said it would close the I-75 Northwest Corridor Express Lanes in Cobb and Cherokee counties at midnight. It also planned to close the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes in Clayton and Henry counties at that time.

The agency said the lanes will reopen when conditions allow.

The moves came as the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for some metro Atlanta counties along the I-20 and I-75 corridors. Those areas could see up to 2 inches of snow and ice accumulations of up to two-tenths of an inch.

Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz noted that a winter storm warning also was extended, including Gwinnett in metro Atlanta.

Atlanta planned to open emergency warming shelters Saturday night that would operate until 7 a.m. Tuesday at the Old Adamsville Recreation Center, 3404 Delmar Lane NW, and the Central Park Recreation Center, 400 Meritts Ave. NE. People interested can go to the Gateway Center at 275 Pryor St. SW to get transported to one of the locations.

Late Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for several metro Atlanta counties.

The warning goes into effect at midnight and will remain in effect until noon Sunday in nearly 40 counties in northwest Georgia. Among them are Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Cherokee, Douglas, Forsyth and Polk counties.

Residents in those areas can expect to see sustained winds between 20 and 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph and higher gusts of 60 mph possible, the National Weather Service forecast.

The winds could blow down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages and making travel very difficult.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday issued a state of emergency for 91 counties as far south as Laurens. The emergency declaration gives Kemp clearance to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops for storm response over the next several days.

“We know for many this long weekend will probably lead to a lot of travel plans, and we want to encourage everyone to stay up to date on the forecast,” Kemp said at a news conference Friday. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will be observed Monday, and many schools and businesses will be closed.

Meanwhile, GDOT crews continued to treat highways across the region in anticipation of winter weather.

By Saturday morning, the agency had applied an estimated 900,000 gallons of brine on metro Atlanta and North Georgia highways.

GDOT expected to transition to spreading salt and gravel and to plowing roads as conditions change.

In addition to troublesome road conditions, airlines also expected travel through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to be affected. Airlines are canceling flights scheduled for Sunday in Atlanta in anticipation of the winter storm to hit the Southeast.

More than 180 Atlanta flights scheduled for Sunday in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on multiple airlines were canceled by Saturday afternoon, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

Delta Air Lines warned travelers Friday that the storm expected this weekend could disrupt its flights in Atlanta and around the Southeast.

Atlanta-based Delta, which has its largest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson, is positioning hundreds of employees at nearby hotels and at the airport overnight to be ready for Sunday. According to Delta, some employees at the airport will sleep on cots or on planes to be in place and avoid the risk of commuting on icy Atlanta roads Sunday morning.

Hartsfield-Jackson said it is preparing for the storm, after conducting a winter weather exercise with snow sweepers last month. Airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil said the airport is prepared to mobilize additional staff. Workers will be on 12-hour shifts and the airport has 95,000 gallons of liquid de-icer, 13,000 gallons of liquid brine, 360 bags of solid de-icer, 8 snow brooms, 13 de-icing trucks and 6 de-icing spreaders.

Airport and airline officials recommend travelers check their flight status before heading to the airport and monitor for updates. Travelers should also get to the airport at least two hours before their flight.

Delta in 2020 discontinued change fees for bookings on flights originating in North America in main cabin and above. It is also waiving certain fare increases for customers who have Jan. 16 or 17 flights to, from or through certain airports in the Southeast and want to change their travel plans to avoid the storm.

With a menacing storm approaching, some residents noted the name given to it by the Weather Channel.

Nearly 26 years after Atlanta hosted the Olympic Games with a much-maligned mascot, the new storm headed to the city has the same name: Izzy.

The National Weather Service doesn’t name winter storms. And with areas like Hart, Fannin and Rabun counties expected to be the epicenter of the winter blast in Georgia — where as much as 8 inches of snowfall and a quarter-inch of ice could get dumped — the storm is serious business.