The first weekend of spring promises to be a wet one, but before then, some areas of the state could see a wintry mix of precipitation late Thursday night and early Friday.
The National Weather Service said a quick-moving storm system will move across the Tennessee Valley region Thursday night and Friday morning, “bringing a chance of snow, sleet and rain to north and parts of west-central Georgia.”
“No accumulations are expected except possibly in the higher elevations and over extreme western and northern sections, where a dusting could occur,” the Weather Service said early Thursday.
Overnight lows are expected to be in the mid-30s across metro Atlanta. The precipitation should change over to all rain during the day on Friday, as temperatures climb toward an afternoon high in the low 50s.
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton put the chance of rain at 90 percent Friday, 60 percent Saturday and 30 percent Sunday.
The weekend should also be unseasonably cool, Minton said, with highs in the mid-50s Saturday and upper 50s Sunday. Normal high this part of March is 66 degrees, the normal low 45.
Temperatures before daybreak Thursday were also well below that normal level, ranging from 28 in Canton and 31 in Marietta, Dunwoody and Dallas to 32 in Chamblee and 34 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Recent pollen counts have been running well below last March’s record-setting levels.
Atlanta’s pollen count on Wednesday, as measured by the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic, was just 79 particles per cubic meter of air, following Tuesday’s count of 25.
By comparison, the count on March 20 of last year was a 9,367 – the highest ever recorded in Atlanta.
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