Parts of north Georgia, including the far northern suburbs of metro Atlanta, will be under a winter storm watch late Thursday night into Friday as forecasters are predicting the potential for freezing rain and sleet.

The winter storm watch is in effect through Friday evening along and north of a line from Rome to Gainesville. Cherokee, Bartow, Forsyth and Hall counties are included in the watch.

The National Weather Service is predicting the possibility of accumulations of up to a quarter-inch of ice in the watch area.

Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said Thursday that northern suburbs could see a light glaze up to 1/10-inch of ice.

She said much the rest of the metro area could see “just patches and pockets of sleet,” with areas south of I-20 getting just a cold rain.

“Models don’t bring in the precipitation until after 7 to 8 a.m. in northwest Georgia and into the metro area after 2 p.m.,” Minton said.

“It really is a timing thing,” she said. “Will the precipitation get here while the very cold air is still in place? That is what the severe weather team will be watching.”

Minton added that while she doesn’t anticipate travel problems from Atlanta southward, the mountains of northeast Georgia “could have some issues.”

Temperatures should bottom out in the upper 20s before daybreak Friday, then climb only a few degrees to around 36 during the afternoon before dropping back to around the freezing mark Friday night.

The weekend outlook is for sunny skies, highs in the low 50s and lows around 30 degrees.