Schools opening late; icy roads unlikely

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The snow has stopped, but some schools will be closed, or delay opening the doors on what looks to be a gray and windy Wednesday.

But WSB chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said gray and windy might be good for Atlantans weary of wintry weather.

"The extensive area of clouds ... will help stabilize the area," Burns said Tuesday night. "And the steady winds (already) have done a fabulous job of drying the roads."

All Fulton, Cobb and Cherokee county public  schools will be opening two hours later than usual Wednesday, school officials said. Forsyth and Hall schools will be closed. [See complete list of closings]

And Burns predicted temperatures to climb to near 70 degrees by Sunday.

No additional rain or snow was expected to fall overnight, and roads shouldn't ice up, forecasters with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City said.

"Roads should be fine in the morning," said Robert Beasley, adding the temperature is not expected to drop below freezing overnight.

"There's lots of cloud cover, which acts like a blanket and holds in warm air," and there's too much wind for much icing to occur, he said.

Burns predicted some early problems on secondary roads in northern Atlanta suburbs.

But "don't expect much freezing," he said. "Every place -- even in the mountains -- is about five to six degrees above freezing tonight."

Wednesday will be bleak, however.

"It's not going to be a very nice day, windy, cloudy and cold ... temperatures may reach the 40s but it will feel like it is in the 20s," Beasley said.

A "big time improvement" will begin this weekend, with relatively balmy temperatures in the 60s expected Sunday and Monday.

Atlanta received about an inch of snow Tuesday, but more fell further north. Cherokee received 3.5 inches. [Check snowfall in your area]

Hundreds of flights into and out of Atlanta were canceled as the storm moved into the state from the west.

Flight delays began building in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport late Tuesday morning. Some flights bound for Atlanta were being held on the ground at their originating airports until later in the morning.

Overnight, Delta Air Lines canceled 490 Tuesday morning flights in anticipation of the snow. Cancellations had surpassed 500 by 11 a.m., Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.

“As the snow continues to increase, the number of flights continues to decrease,” he said. “We’ll make additional cancellations throughout the day as we need to.”

Nearly all the passengers on the canceled flights were rebooked on flights later Tuesday or Wednesday, Black said.

AirTran canceled 83  flights into and out of Atlanta in anticipation of Tuesday's wintry weather, airline officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Staff writers Marcus K. Garner and Larry Hartstein contributed to this article.