Atlanta's winter was 8th worst in nation, Weather Channel says

By Mike Morris and Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Even Fairbanks, Alaska, had a better winter than Atlanta, the Weather Channel says.

Yep, the state closest to Russia was on the Weather Channel's list of cities that had the best winter weather. Meanwhile, Atlanta was No. 8 on the worst list.

Meteorologists from the 24-hour weather network -- which is based here -- collected data between Dec. 1 2009 and Feb. 28 2010. They also factored in other weather conditions and socioeconomic-related variables.

That's probably one of the reasons why Miami Beach, Fla., was No. 1 on that list. While it may have been warmer than cities to the north, this year's winter was the city's worst since 1927, the Weather Channel said.

And the snow that just kept on falling on Baltimore and Washington is likely the chief reason why those two cities are tied for second.

But it's almost over.

Listen carefully Saturday afternoon; the loud noise you hear at 1:32 p.m. will be the collective cheer of Georgians welcoming the official beginning of spring and saying goodbye to a winter that was at times brutally cold and many days just plain damp and ugly.

"This past winter was unusually cold and wet across Georgia," state climatologist David Stooksbury said, calling the winter of 2009-10 "typical of an El Niño one for Georgia – but on hyperdrive."

"This past winter will be remembered for its long periods of below-normal temperatures," Stooksbury said. "It wasn’t that Georgia experienced long periods of bitterly cold temperatures in the single digits. It was the lack of the typical warm periods between the cold periods."

January was particularly frigid in Atlanta, with an average temperature that was 4.2 degrees below normal.

The January chill was punctuated by an 11-day period early in the month that saw daily average temperatures 10 to 19 degrees below normal.

The cooler-than-normal temperatures could extend through much of the spring, forecasters said this week.

"I think what we will see will be above-normal rainfall through April and below-normal temperatures," WSB-TV meteorologist David Chandley said. "El Niño should weaken late May and into June and temps will warm up."

Chandley said that with the ground so saturated from recent rains, daytime heating in late spring and early summer will likely produce isolated late-day thunderstorms, "something we haven't seen in several years due to the drought."

Some lowlights from the winter of 2009-2010:

• Dec. 25 – Atlanta recorded 1.8 inches of rain on Christmas Day.
• Jan. 8, 9 – The coldest days of the winter. The afternoon high on Jan. 8 was only 31, and the following morning, the mercury plunged to a numbing 13 degrees before reaching an afternoon high on Jan. 9 of just 32.
• Jan. 25 – The wettest day of the winter. The 2.75 inches of rain that fell was also a record for the date.
• Feb. 12 – The snowiest day of the winter. Atlanta's official recording station at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reported 3.6 inches of snow.