If you can’t remember it ever being this cold for Thanksgiving in Atlanta, you’re right. Unless you’re at least 102 years old.
Thursday’s low of 22 degrees makes this the coldest Turkey Day since 1911, when the temperature sank to 21 degrees, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley. The average low temperature this time of year is 41 degrees.
Atlanta’s coldest Nov. 28 on record was in 1936, when the low was 20. That year, Thanksgiving fell on a different day.
“The good news is that there will be very little wind and the sun should warm us to the mid-to-upper-40s,” Chandley said.
The sunshine will warm things up even more for Black Friday and the weekend, when high temperatures will reach the low 50s. The weekend forecast calls for much drier conditions than seen earlier in the week, when a massive winter storm brought several inches of rain and a few snow flurries to the metro area.
Weather delays were reported at some airports in the northeast Wednesday afternoon, but things were back on track at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by the evening.
If you’re staying in town, expect intermittent traffic on metro area roadways. More than 178,000 people are expected to visit Atlanta over the weekend for events including the Macy’s Christmas Tree Lighting at Lenox Square Mall.
Crowds are expected to begin gathering at 4:30 p.m. Thursday for the 66th annual tree lighting. Saturday afternoon, about 55,000 fans will fill Bobby Dodd Stadium for the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
Those driving to holiday events are advised to allow time for extra traffic. And if you are on the road, drive carefully. In 2012, law enforcement officers investigated 3,590 crashes statewide that resulted in 1,161 injuries and 21 fatalities, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
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