Christmas will not be white for North Georgia, but it won’t be wet, either.
A weather system headed for the state over the weekend is expected to dump inches of rain in some spots. The rain should clear out by Tuesday, leaving a mostly sunny sky on Christmas Eve and partly cloudy conditions on Christmas Day, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Katie Walls.
The winter solstice on Saturday night kicks off the official start of the season, but don’t expect any frosted windowpanes or Jack Frost nipping at your nose.
“While winter will officially be upon us, warmer-than-average temperatures are on the way for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Walls said. “Morning lows will be running in the low to mid-40s with high temperatures climbing into the mid-60s.”
The average high for this time of year is 53 degrees, she said.
Rain chances start to increase Saturday evening ahead of Sunday’s heavier rain, according to Channel 2. The latter part of the weekend is looking very wet.
“If this were cold enough, we’d have enough precipitation to generate probably feet of snow across northern Georgia,” Channel 2 chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said. “But it’s going to be all rain. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
The rain should start out mostly light before the heavier stuff to the south gets pushed into North Georgia late in the afternoon, he said. The state will still be socked in with rain Monday for the morning commute.
Burns said metro Atlanta and areas to the south could get 2 to 4 inches of rainfall before all is said and done. The Northside should get about 1 to 2 inches, with lesser amounts for the mountains and northwest Georgia, according to the latest forecast.
“If you equate 1 inch of rain with about 10 inches of snow, you could see how much snow we could get here if it were cold enough,” Burns said.
Once the rain begins to break, temperatures are going up. Monday should warm up to about 58 degrees, and Tuesday’s projected high is a mild 64, according to Channel 2.
The warmer weather won’t stick around long, however. It should get “a bit cooler” for the second half of the week leading up to New Year’s Day, Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said.
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