The forecast:
A winter storm advisory has been issued for metro Atlanta from 7 a.m. Monday through 7 a.m. Tuesday. Here’s what you can expect.
Monday: Channel 2 Action News says precipitation is likely to begin after 10 a.m. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., areas of metro Atlanta generally north of I-20 have the best likelihood of slick roads due to sleet and freezing rain. By 3 p.m., temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s.
Tuesday: Precipitation will be clearing out in the early morning. Ice, however, will still be a concern, because of lingering moisture on roadways.
Georgia counties covered by Gov. Nathan Deal’s declaration of emergency: Catoosa, Dade, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union, Walker, White and Whitfield.
State emergency and transportation agency officials say Georgia won’t be embarrassed this time.
GDOT trucks spent all of Sunday spraying interstate highways with a salt water mixture known as brine — a solution that helps ensure that if frozen flakes fall from the sky they don’t stick to the asphalt.
A winter storm advisory has been issued for Metro Atlanta from 7 a.m. until Tuesday morning. An evolving forecast predicted snow for much of the weekend.
But by Sunday evening, forecasters said that commuters Monday could be face a “light glaze” of freezing rain and that northern portions of the state could see up to a quarter-inch of freezing rain and an inch of snow and sleet.
Black ice is likely across both areas.
The city of Atlanta announced that all of its facilities, including parks and courts, will be closed Monday. And Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order, declaring a state of emergency for disaster preparedness for 15 North Georgia counties.
Jim Butterworth, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said he doesn’t know what’s coming over the next 48 hours, but said state emergency officials will be ready.
The so-called strike teams will be deployed in strategic locations around metro Atlanta starting at 7 a.m. Monday. The idea is that the teams can help quickly solve problems — having a stuck vehicle towed, removing downed tree limbs, scraping or salting roads — before they become a bigger problem that clogs the entire interstate system.
The strike teams and brine pre-treatment were a couple of the 23 recommendations made by Deal's winter weather task force, which was created after last year's January snow and ice storm that left thousands of people stranded; abandoned cars littering the roads; and children sleeping in schools.
Georgia storm preparation became grist for the late-night comedy shows afterward.
“From my perspective right now, two scenarios could play out: we could get a reasonable amount of ice, not excessive; we could also end up just getting rain,” Butterworth said. “If we just get rain, some people will say that we over-reacted. But I’m in the management business, not the prediction business. And that’s what we are doing.”
Katie Walls, a meteorologist for Channel 2 Action news, said the best likelihood for slick spots due to sleet and freezing rain Monday are generally north of Interstate 20, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The National Weather Service said precipitation could begin as early as sunrise, but Action 2 meteorologists say it’s not likely to begin until about 10 a.m.
Walls said the rain should clear out early Tuesday.
“Ice will still be a concern, because of lingering moisture on roadways,” she said.
Regardless of when it begins, interstate highways will be coated with salt water. GDOT deployed 10 flat-bed trucks to soak the roads with Brine at 7 a.m. Sunday. They were out all day. GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale said crews will switch to a rock and salt mixture to provide traction once rain begins to fall.
“We have not had the materials and equipment to do this in the past,” Dale said of the brine pre-treatment.
County officials also are implementing some lessons learned from last year’s storm.
Sand, rock and salt are deployed in various locations across Cobb County, for example, so trucks don’t have to leave the areas they are treating to reload. Cobb and Gwinnett officials both said they will concentrate on major thoroughfares, and making sure to maintain access to hospitals, police and fire stations.
In Atlanta, city crews worked 12-hour shifts pre-treating bridges and priority routes.
Cobb County officials have announced that schools will be closed Monday, in anticipation of the winter weather. Most public schools around metro Atlanta, along with many federal agencies, were already scheduled to be closed because of President’s Day.
Likewise, the Floyd County school system cancelled Monday classes; Rome city schools already had the day off.
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