Light snow began falling around the metro area -- in Marietta, East Point Dunwoody and Woodstock -- shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday. Several metro Atlanta area schools began canceling after-school events out of fears roads could become treacherous as a fast-moving cold front moves across the state.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory.
Though Georgia Power Co. and the state Department of Transportation road crews are preparing for the worst, they don't expect problems.
Meanwhile, Thursday morning's frigid temperatures apparently led to a wreck just before 8 a.m. that shut down all lanes of Roswell Road in north Fulton County. The road reopened just after 9:30.
The state transportation officials reported that a car hit any icy patch and overturned on Roswell Road near Hightower Trail, just south of the Chattahoochee River. No injuries were reported.
The winter weather advisory, issued for all of north Georgia and much of central Georgia, is in effect from noon to midnight, the National Weather Service said.
Several school systems -- including Fulton's, Gwinnett's and Henry's -- are releasing students early or cancelling after-school programs.
Forecasters said light snow accumulations will be possible from late in the afternoon through the evening along and north of a line from LaGrange to Monticello to Washington. That includes all of metro Atlanta.
While accumulations should be about an inch or less in metro Atlanta and 2 inches in the mountain counties, the Weather Service warned that any moisture on the roads will turn icy overnight as temperatures again plunge into the upper teens.
Early morning temperatures across metro Atlanta were generally in the low to mid-20s.
Afternoon highs were expected to climb to a few degrees above freezing, and the Weather Service said the precipitation could begin as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow before changing over to all snow by early evening.
The snow should end overnight, but temperatures might not break the freezing mark on Friday.
The forecast calls for partly sunny skies on Friday, with morning lows around 19 and highs in the low 30s, followed by lows again in the upper teens Friday night.
Saturday and Sunday will be mostly sunny but continued cold, with highs in the mid- to upper 30s and lows in the upper teens.
Warmer weather should finally arrive on Monday, when highs are expected to be near 50 degrees.
About the Author
