Bitter cold slaps metro Atlanta with freezing temps
A brick to the face — that’s what the cold will feel like in metro Atlanta as you head out the door Thursday morning.
It’s the first of multiple cold fronts that could bring more opportunities for snow to Peach State over the next few days. That’s right. It’s too early for forecasters to make predictions with a high degree of confidence, but some light snow could fall in the North Georgia mountains Friday night, and even South Georgia could get some flurries on Saturday.
On Thursday, though, metro area temperatures are in the 20s and 30s as the sun rises. Couple that with wind gusts up to 30 mph, and it feels more like the teens and even single digits. In the state’s highest elevations, wind chills could be as low as -3 degrees, the National Weather Service warns.
“You can hear that cold air rushing in early this morning with the strong wind gusts,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said.
A cold weather advisory is in place for Fannin, Union and Towns counties along the Tennessee and North Carolina borders until 10 a.m. Some school districts, including Fannin and Gilmer counties, have altered their schedules to adjust for the bitter cold.
In Atlanta, temps will climb out of the freezing range, but not by much. The high is expected to top out around 37 degrees.
The dry air and breezy conditions have also triggered a fire danger statement that’s in place Thursday afternoon through the evening. It covers all of North and Middle Georgia.
Milder temps are expected Friday. Highs will climb into the low 50s and lows should stay in the 40-degree range. But as we head into Saturday, another cold front is expected that will bring lows back into the 20s. Some higher elevations could see a few flurries overnight.
Saturday night will bring the second opportunity for snowflakes, but this time it will be over South Georgia as the cold front meets moisture flowing in from the Gulf Coast.
