Winter is coming? Georgia braces for steep temperature drop after storms

Georgians woke up to some severe weather this morning.

A line of severe thunderstorms swept through the state Monday, bringing heavy rain, winds and the promise of much colder weather in the afternoon.

The metro Atlanta area was under a tornado watch until 10 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Winds knocked down trees early Monday morning, according to reports from local fire departments.

As of 1 p.m., utilities appeared to have remedied the majority of power outages.

That includes about 16,000 customers of Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, and about 16,000 customers of the statewide network of electric membership cooperatives.

The severe weather is also causing disruptions to flights. The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a ground stop halting flights to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport early Monday morning starting around 5:30 a.m..

More than 185 flights at Hartsfield-Jackson were canceled Monday, according to FlightAware.com.

The airport also had some extremely long lines at security checkpoints early Monday morning. Monday mornings are typically one of the busiest periods of the week, and long lines have been exacerbated amid the partial government shutdown that has left TSA officers working without pay for weeks.

Some security lines were more than 50 minutes long, according to the airport’s security wait times posted on its website.

That came after similar long wait times and flight cancellations Sunday.

Hartsfield-Jackson also closed one of its security checkpoints because of TSA staffing constraints Monday morning. The Lower North checkpoint closed, contributing to longer lines at the remaining checkpoints at the domestic terminal.

The worst of the storm swept east through the city of Atlanta before 7:30 a.m., but it has left most of the state under a freeze warning.

The Weather Service forecast a steep temperature drop, with the mercury falling to around 42 degrees by 3 p.m., paired with wind gusts up to 25 mph.

The line of storms moved in from the west after midnight and marched across Georgia through the morning. The system brought the possibilities for tornadoes and damaging wind, with gusts over 60 mph or even exceeding 70 mph “in some pockets,” according to the Weather Service.

There were no reports of major wind damage beyond some downed trees as of midmorning Monday.

Atlanta Public Schools switched to remote learning Monday in response to the storms.

“These conditions are expected to potentially create hazardous travel for buses,” the district said on its website.

Some school systems were already adjusting schedules Sunday night in anticipation of the storm. Rockdale County Public Schools will start 2½ hours late Monday, the district announced, citing tornado threats and the possibility of downed trees causing power outages.

Schools in Bartow, Henry and Newton counties will operate on a two-hour delay, the districts announced.

“Weather forecasts indicate the potential for severe storms in our area during the early morning hours, including the possibility of strong thunderstorms, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes. These conditions could impact travel during our normal bus routes and arrival times,” Newton County Schools said in a social media post Sunday.

Wide swaths of the United States are experiencing severe weather, including heavy snow in the Upper Midwest.