Freezing rain to be followed by sunny skies
After a wet and cold Friday, precipitation has stopped for most of the state, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said.
A freezing rain advisory remains in effect for portions of north Georgia until 6 p.m.
Friday night is expected to be mostly cloudy with temperatures in the 40s.
Burns’ forecast calls for a sunny weekend ahead. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s.
Freezing rain made for hazardous driving conditions Friday in metro Atlanta’s northernmost suburbs and north Georgia.
According to the Georgia State Patrol and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, a Tyson Chicken truck spun out of control in Ellijay due to icy bridge conditions. Roger Hubbard, 59, was taken to the North Georgia Medical Center.
Weather radar at 1 p.m. showed a mix of wintry precipitation drifting across north Georgia, where temperatures remained below freezing. Temperatures in most of metro Atlanta had climbed above freezing by early afternoon.
While there were no reports of icing on most metro Atlanta roads, the state Department of Transportation reported just after 9 a.m. that a vehicle had slid on an icy patch and hit a guard rail on Ga. 515 in Pickens County, and that “ice is accumulating on all bridges and ramps on I-985 in Hall County.”
“We have multiple crashes on local bridges due to ice and roadways are being shut down as a result,” Hall sheriff’s Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks said just after 9:30 a.m.
Other icing was reported by the DOT on an overpass on Ga. 306 near Ga. 400 in Forsyth County.
Just before noon, the DOT was reporting icing on Ga. 400 near Peachtree Parkway in Forsyth County and on I-85 in the Commerce area.
Farther north in the mountains, the DOT said the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway was closed due to icy conditions.
The northeast corner of the state, from Forsyth and Hall counties northward, was under a winter storm warning Friday, while a freezing rain advisory was posted for the rest of metro Atlanta and north Georgia, as far south as Griffin.
Several school systems in north Georgia canceled or delayed classes on Friday as forecasters were predicting the possibility of up to a quarter-inch of ice accumulations in the warning area.
Early afternoon temperatures included 26 degrees in Gainesville, 30 in Lawrenceville, 36 in Marietta, 40 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and 45 in Peachtree City.
Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton’s extended forecast calls for a big warm-up next week, with highs in the low 60s Monday and near 70 degrees Tuesday.
