Up to 6 inches of snow forecast for mountains, cold rain for Atlanta

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A winter storm watch has been posted for extreme north Georgia for Friday night, but forecasters are now predicting only a cold rain for most of metro Atlanta.

"Precipitation from metro Atlanta to Athens should be predominantly rain with this event," the National Weather Service said in a statement early Thursday.

The winter storm watch is in effect from Friday evening through Saturday afternoon along and north of a line from Lafayette through Ellijay, Dawsonville and Gainesville to Homer, the  Weather Service said.

Snow and sleet accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are likely in the mountains, with accumulations of 1 to 3 inches at lower elevations, forecasters said.

South of that area, rain could be mixed with sleet or snow as far south as Bartow, Cherokee and Forsyth counties.

The forecast for  metro Atlanta calls for mostly cloudy skies Thursday night, with lows in the mid-30s.

Friday will be mostly cloudy, with a 50 percent chance of rain during the afternoon and highs in the low 50s.

The chance of rain goes up to 100 percent Friday night, when lows should be in the mid-30s, forecasters said.

Saturday will be mostly cloudy, with a 40 percent chance of morning rain and highs in the low 40s.

Mostly sunny skies are forecast for Sunday, with highs in the mid-40s and morning lows in the low 20s.