Temperatures will finally climb above freezing Thursday afternoon despite a bitterly cold start with morning readings in the single digits in most areas.
Here’s what you need to know as things start returning to normal after Tuesday’s crippling winter storm:
Current conditions: It's warming up nicely after a very cold start to the day. Noon temperatures are mostly around 32 degrees, following predawn temps that dropped as low as 0 degrees in Cartersville, 2 in Peachtree City and 5 in Dallas and Alpharetta.
Forecast: Wednesday's sunshine helped melt the snow in some spots despite temperatures never cracking the freezing point. Forecasters in the Severe Weather Team 2 predict highs later today around 40 degrees, along with more abundant sunshine. But the mercury will dip back below freezing tonight before climbing into the low 50s on Friday. This weekend, temperatures will be in the 60s. Check the full forecast and track changes.
Interstates: While many stretches of metro interstates are now ice-free and dry, black ice is still a problem in other areas, including along I-75 southbound around Delk and Windy Hill roads. Other early problem spots included I-75 at Wade Green Road and I-20 at Thornton Road in Douglas County.
Neighborhood streets: Don't be fooled by traffic reports of ice-free interstates. Neighborhood streets are still snow and ice-laden and probably won't get better until temperatures climb above freezing later in the day. Problems were still being reported Thursday afternoon, including in Douglas County, where a pickup truck slid off South Burnt Hickory Road and overturned around noon.
Abandoned cars: Hundreds of abandoned cars still litter the sides of metro interstates. If one of them is yours, you can head to one of two spots beginning at 10 a.m. and various state agencies will use four-wheel drive vehicles to take people back to their vehicles, a Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman said late Wednesday. People who left their vehicles on I-20 and I-285 west should report to the Westlake MARTA station (parking area), 80 Anderson Ave. SW, Atlanta. Those who left their vehicles on I-75, the top end of I-285 and the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85) should report to Mount Paran Church (parking area), 2055 Mount Paran Road, Atlanta.
Public transportation: MARTA resumes limited bus service on 27 routes at 8 a.m. Rail service starts at 6 a.m. Cobb Community Transit resumes local bus service at noon. CCT's express buses will not run Thursday.
Schools: Metro Atlanta schools are closed again Thursday. Complete list of school closings. In Athens, the University of Georgia opens at 11 a.m.
GEMA request: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency continues to ask motorists to stay off the roads if possible until temperatures climb above freezing. "If you can wait until later today, that's when you need to be out and about, not earlier than that," said Mark Arum in the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk Traffic Center. Motorists appear to be heeding that advice, as traffic volume is much lighter than normal.
Airport: If you're planning to fly today, you'll want to get to the airport earlier than normal. On Wednesday, security lines were much longer than normal and Thursday could see a repeat of long lines as airlines resume more flights that were canceled during the this week's winter storms. At 8:30 a.m., though, wait times remained below 10 minutes at all security check points.
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