Arctic blast to bring bitter cold to metro Atlanta next week
Get ready, metro Atlanta.
An Arctic blast is on its way behind the mild weather we’ll enjoy for at least the first half of the weekend.
The cold snap is thanks to frigid air that’s turned places such as Montana and North Dakota into an icebox Friday. That biting chill will sink “further South as we go into the later part of the weekend,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Ashley Kramlich said.
Morning lows Friday around metro Atlanta are already downright cold, even freezing in some areas. But lows in the teens and 20s are what’s in store Sunday and Monday mornings, the National Weather Service cautions.
No snow is in the forecast, but it will be cold enough that some local governments will open warming centers. DeKalb County’s locations will open at 6 a.m. Sunday and remain in service through Tuesday.
Before we get to the bitter cold, though, we’ll enjoy afternoon highs in the 60s on Friday and Saturday. Lows on Saturday aren’t expected to dip below the 40-degree range, either, so it should be an overall mild day compared with the 30-degree lows we’ve seen for much of December.
By Sunday and Monday, low temps take a nosedive into the 20s with highs hovering in the 40s. And wind chills could make it feel even colder, the NWS warns. In far northeast Georgia’s higher elevations, it could feel like single digits.
So bundle up, make sure pets have warm shelter and insulate your pipes.
The good news is temps should “rebound quickly through the second half of the week,” the NWS says. Highs should climb into the 50s Tuesday, and low to mid-60s are projected on Wednesday. There is even potential that some areas could see 70-degree highs by Thursday.
