Freezing temps to linger Tuesday in metro Atlanta before midweek warmup
The bone-chilling start to the work week that swept across North Georgia will persist into Tuesday as the season’s first shot of Arctic air keeps morning temperatures in the freezing range.
Metro Atlantans will wake up to another hard freeze with lows in many areas reaching the 20-degree range before an expected climb back into the upper 40s by the afternoon.
The cold front brought snow to North Georgia on Monday, even prompting Fannin County Schools to release students early. A few flurries dotted the midafternoon skies in north metro Atlanta, though they were sparse and melted instantly.
A winter weather advisory is in effect across portions of the state’s northern half through 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. But the wind shouldn’t be quite as fearsome as Monday.
The big freeze is part of a system that brought intense snowfall to the Great Lakes region. The Weather Service issued a winter storm warning there for Monday, predicting wind gusts of up to 30 mph and as much as 18 inches of quickly falling precipitation, along with thundersnow, a condition that happens when thunderstorms combine with snow, The Associated Press reported.
In metro Atlanta on Monday, the Arctic wind was so strong you could “hear the cold coming in,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. Those 25-30 mph gusts made the air feel more like the 20s and even the teens in northern Georgia’s highest elevations, “the spine of the Appalachians,” Monahan said.
Temps at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t quite make it to freezing. The lowest reading there was 35 degrees just before 8 a.m.
The latest freeze warning will end at 10 a.m. Tuesday. No flurries are in the forecast.
The cold has prompted local governments to open warming centers, including in Atlanta and its surrounding counties, such as Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb.
The good news is, behind this Arctic wall of icy air, warmer weather is on the horizon. Temperatures near the city are expected to soar back into the low 70s during the second half of the week.
